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THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2013 


http://archive.org/details/excitingexperwarmexOOever 


MEXICAN"  OFFICERS  ON  DRESS  PARADE. 


STEEET  FIGHTING — CITY  OF  MEXICO. 


FEDERALS  ABOARD  STEEL  ARMORED  TRAIN. 


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MAYOR  OF  JUAREZ  READING  MADERO'S  PROCLAMATION. 


THRILLING  PERSONAL  ADVENTURES  IN  MEXICO 

EXCITING  EXPERIENCES 

IN  OUR 

WAR  WITH  MEXICO 

Stories    of    Personal    Bravery,     Startling     Encounters     and     Heroic 
Achievements  ;  Stories  of  the  People  of  Mexico  from  the  Time 
of  the  Toltecs  and  Aztecs  to  the  Present  Day  ;  Vivid  De- 
scriptions of  Hard -Fought  Battles;   Stories  of 
the  Savage  Warfare  of  Bandits;    Stories 
of    Heroism     and     Self-Sacrifice. 


A  COMPLETE  HISTORY  OF  MEXICO   AND 
HER  STRANGE  PEOPLE 

BY 

MARSHALL  EVERETT 

The    greatest    descriptive    writer    ever    known ; 


Author  of      The  Story  of  the  Titanic  Disaster. 


5? 


Illustrated  with  a  great  gallery  of  photographs,  maps, 
diagrams  and  cartoons 


f 


Copyright  1914,  by 

THE  BIBLE  HOUSE 

CHICAGO,  ILLINOIS 


^ 


ALL  RIGHTS  RESERVED 


Copyright,  1913,  by  Harris  &  Ewing 

PRESIDENT  WOODROW  WILSON. 


Photograph,  Uncleiwood  ami  Underwood 

VICTORIANO    HUERTA— WHO   FLOUTED    CIVILIZATION. 


FRANCISCO  I,  MADERO,  "REMOVED"  BY  HUERTA'S  ORDER, 


Copyrighted  by  Underwood  and  Underwood 

POEF1EIO  DIAZ— AFTER  HE  RETIRED. 


VENUSTIANA  CARRANZA— "THE  GENTLEMAN  REBEL." 


FRANCISCO  VILLA— THE  BANDIT  GENERAL. 


l'lll.t 


THE  ZAPATA  .BROTHERS. 


opynglued  by  Munis  and  Elwing 

FKANCISCO  L.  DE  LA  BAKRA. 


Harris  and  Ewlng 


EMILIO  VASQUEZ  GOMEZ. 


LUIS  TERRAZAS,  MEXICAN  MILLIONAIRE,  FRIEND  OF  HUERTA. 


I'hoto.  by  Paul  Thompson,  N.  Y. 


BERNARDO  REYES— ONE  OF  THE  OLD  GUARD. 


Copyrighted  by  Underwood  and  Underwood 

FELIX  DIAZ  AND  JOSE  ROMERO  IN  CONFAB. 


PROFILE  MAP  SHOWING  THE  RAILWAY  ROUTES  BETWEEN  VERA 
CRUZ  AND  MEXICO  CITY. 

PREFACE 


The  intention  of  the  author  in  writing  these  adven- 
tures in  Mexico  has  been  first  of  all  to  convey  to  the 
reader  a  concrete  story  of  the  present  status  of  affairs 
in  the  revolution  torn  country  to  the  south — a  country 
so  changeful  in  its  political  complexion  as  to  have 
already  made  ancient  history  of  most  works  hitherto 
published  on  Mexico. 

Recent  facts  of  history  leading  up  to  the  demand  by 
an  American  admiral  that  a  salute  be  fired  to  the  Ameri- 
can flag;  the  devious  diplomacy  of  Victoriano  Huerta, 
his  evasions  and  subterfuges  in  relation  to  American 
demands;  the  complications  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment has  encountered  in  its  dealings  with  Carranza  and 
Villa,  the  constitutionalist  chiefs,  the  sending  of  an 
army  and  navy  to  enforce  respect  for  American  rights 
and  the  American  flag,  and  the  taking  of  Vera  Cruz  by 
an  armed  force  of  the  American  fleet,  are  set  forth  in 
plain,  matter  of  fact  fashion. 

Efforts  at  amicable  settlement  made  by  the  govern- 

17 


13  PREFACE 

ments  of  Argentine,  Brazil  and  Chili  as  mediators,  with 
President  Wilson  benignantly  hoping  for  a  peaceful 
issue,  found  practically  the  entire  population  of  the 
United  States  impatient  for  enforcement  of  the  nation's 
demands  upon  Huerta  by  warlike  demonstrations 
against  the  Mexican  capital,  yet,  to  the  credit  of  Ameri- 
can patience,  be  it  said,  few  serious  protests  were  made 
against  a  further  delay  which  held  thousands  of  our 
soldiers  and  sailors  in  leash  while  one  more  trial  was 
made  of  peaceful  methods. 

There  are  some  interesting  bits  of  information  picked 
up  by  the  author  at  first  hand,  such  as  the  story  of 
Pancho  Villa's  extraordinary  career,  sidelights  on  the 
lives  of  Carranza  and  Zapata  and  the  rise  of  Huerta 
out  of  the  wreckage  of  Francisco  Madero's  administra- 
tion. 

The  reader  will  find  detailed  information  as  to  our 
military  and  naval  resources  on  the  spot  in  Mexican 
waters,  also  as  to  the  most  recent  stocktaking  in  con- 
nection with  the  National  Guard  and  material  for  volun- 
teer troops. 

The  book  will  be  found  to  contain  valuable  informa- 
tion of  the  men  who  command  the  American  forces 
ashore  and  afloat  as  well  as  of  those  who  command  the 
various  Mexican  factions.  A  brief  history  is  given  of 
Mexico — such  a  history  as  will  permit  the  reader  to 
approach  the  situation  of  today  with  intelligent  compre- 
hension. 

In  short,  this  volume  is  a  statement  of  facts  whieh 
must  be  brought  home  to  the  minds  of  all  who  desire  to 
comprehend  the  Mexican  imbroglio  in  its  many  and  com- 
plicated aspects  without  reading  a  whole  library  of 
books. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I 
WATCHFUL  WAITING  ENDS 

THE  UNITED  STATES  IS  FORCED  INTO  A  PRACTICAL  STATE  OF  WAR  WITH 
MEXICO — MEXICO    CITY    SHOUTS    FOR   WAR    AS    HUERTA,    THE   DICTATOR, 

REFUSES  AMERICAN  DEMANDS   THAT   HE  SALUTE  THE  AMERICAN   FLAG 

PRESIDENT  WILSON  's   LONG-SUFFERING  POLICY 25 

CHAPTER  II 

HUERTA  MUST  BE  HUMBLED 

IMPRESSIVE  SCENE  IN  CONGRESS  WHEN  PRESIDENT  WILSON  ASKS  RIGHT  TO 

ENFORCE  WITH  ARMS  THE  AMERICAN  DEMANDS   ON   HUERTA BRILLIANT 

CONCOURSE    OF     DIPLOMATS     IN     FULL    UNIFORM     PRESENT THE    PRESI- 
DENT 'S     SPEECH 31 

CHAPTER  III 

THE  WAR  LORDS  CONFER 

THE  AMERICAN  MAN  IN  THE  STREET  TIRED  OF  HUERTA 's  TRUCULENT  TALK 
BECAME  ENTHUSIASTIC  FOR  WAR — GENERAL  BELIEF  THAT  HUERTA,  CAR- 
RANZA  AND  VILLA  REQUIRED  A  DOSE  OF  THE  SCHOOLMASTER'S  BIG  STICK 
— 0  'SHAUGHNESSY    HANDED    HIS    PASSPORTS 41 

CHAPTER  IV 

MEN  WHO  COMMAND  OUR  FORCES 

AMERICAN  MILITARY  AND  NAVAL  AFFAIRS  IN  COMPETENT  HANDS — REAR 
ADMHtAL  BADGER  COMMANDED  THE  CINCINNATI  IN  THE  SPANISH  WAR 
— GEN.  LEONARD  WOOD  HAD  SEEN  SERVICE,  TOO — MEXICAN  FEELING 
AGAINST  AMERICANS  DUE  IN  PART  TO  WAR  OF  1848 — JEALOUSY  OF 
AMERICAN     PROGRESS 65 


19 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  V 

VILLA'S  PROTESTATIONS  OF  GOOD  WILL 

IN  A  CONFERENCE  AT  JUAREZ  WITH  SPECIAL  AGENT  CAROTHERS,  VILLA  PRO- 
CLAIMED FRIENDSHIP  FOR  THE  UNITED  STATES CALLED  HUERTA  AN  OLD 

DRUNKARD — DECLARE  EFFORTS  TO  EMBROIL  NORTHERN  MEXICO  DUE  TO 
CAPITALISTIC    INFLUENCES — EMBRACE    AMERICAN    REPRESENTATIVE 73 

CHAPTER  VI 

THE  LIFE  STORY  OF  VILLA 

CALLED  BY  HIS  ENEMIES  A  BLOODTHIRSTY  BANDIT — FRIENDS  INSIST  HE  IS  A 

MODERN  ROBIN   HOOD,   FORCED   INTO   OUTLAWRY A   PRICE  ON   HIS    HEAD 

SET  BY  DIAZ — KILLED  HIS  SISTER 's  -BETRAYER  AND  WAS  COMPELLED  TO 
TAKE  TO  HILLS  As  A  RESULT — HOW  HE  SECURED  MILITARY  RECOG- 
NITION       79 

CHAPTER  VII 
GENERAL  VENUSTIANO  CARRANZA 

ONE  OF  THE  MOST  VIGOROUS  OPPONENTS  OF  DIAZ  AND  A  STERN  FIGHTER  FOR 
CONSTITUTIONAL  RIGHTS — A  STERN,  UNCOMPROMISING  SPANISH  GEN- 
TLEMAN WHO  CALLS  HUERTA  A  MURDERER  AND  DECLARES  HE  WILL 
NEVER  REST  UNTIL  THE  DICTATOR  HAS  BEEN  DRIVEN  FROM  MEXICO  OR 
KILLED     87 

CHAPTER  VIII 
THE  WAR  OF  1848 

SOMETHING  OF  PAST  CAMPAIGNS  IN  MEXICO — THE  TWO  YEARS'  WAR  OF 
1848   WHICH  GAVE  TO  THE  UNITED   STATES    CALIFORNIA,   NEVADA,   UTAH, 

ARIZONA    AND    PARTS    OF    NEW     MEXICO     AND     COLORADO THE    FRENCH 

OCCUPATION     AND     THE     MONROE     DOCTRINE HOW     CORTEZ     ORIGINALLY 

CONQUERED  THE  COUNTRY 91 

CHAPTER  IX 

THE  AMERICAN  FIGHTING  FORCES 

THE  UNITED  STATES  MARINE  CORPS — ITS  USES  IN  THE  OPENING  OF  CAM- 
PAIGNS— GREAT  BRITAIN  ONLY  OTHER  COUNTRY  WHICH  H^S  MARINES 
— WHY  EVERY  ABLE  BODIED  MAN  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  IS  LIABLE  FOR 
MILITARY  SERVICE — DICK  LAW  IS  FOR  ALL  PRACTICAL  PURPOSES  A  CON- 
SCRIPTION    ACT H3 


CONTENTS  21 

CHAPTER  X 

MEDIATION  OFFERED  AND  ACCEPTED 

ARGENTINA,  BRAZIL  AND  CHILI,  THE  A.  B.  C.  REPUBLICS,  OFFER  MEDIATION 
— PRESIDENT  WILSON  ACCEPTS  WITH  RESERVATIONS — HE  INSISTS  THAT 
WHATEVER  MEDIATION  MAY  RESULT  IN  HUERTA  MUST  GET  OUT — SEN- 
ATOR SHERMAN  OF  ILLINOIS  DENOUNCES  THE  MEDIATION  PLAN 121 

CHAPTER  XI 

OUR  ARMED  FORCES 

A  REVIEW  OF  THE  RECENT  HISTORY  OF  MEXICO — WHAT  HAPPENED  TO  FRAN- 
CISCO MADERO— THE  DOWNFALL  OF  DIAZ — LANDING  OF  AMERICAN  MA- 
RINES AT  VERA  CRUZ — STRENGTH  OF  THE  AMERICAN  AND  MEXICAN 
ARMIES    AND    NAVIES — A    CHRONOLOGICAL    TABLE 129 

CHAPTER  XII 

THE  READY  RED  CROSS 

THE  RED  CROSS  AMONG  THE  FIRST  ORGANIZATIONS  TO  BE  READY — FORTY- 
FIVE  HUNDRED  TRAINED  NURSES  PREPARED  TO  SAIL  AT  ONCE — MABEL 
BOARDMAN'S  INTERESTING  STATEMENT — TAMPICO,  THE  PLAGUE  SPOT 
OF  MEXICO 161 

CHAPTER  XIII 

THE  WOMEN  OF  MEXICO 

THE     WOMEN     OF     MEXICO HOW     CLASS     LINES     DIVIDE     THEM — MEXICAN 

METHODS  OF  COURTSHIP — THE  TRIAL  MARRIAGE  POPULAR  AMONG  THE 
PEONS — LOT  OF  MEXICAN  WOMAN  A  HARD  ONE — COOKING  WITH  CHAR- 
COAL BRAZIER — HOW  WEALTHY  WOMEN  LIVE 167 

CHAPTER  XIV 

THE  REAL  CAUSES  OF  THE  TROUBLE 

HUNGER  FOR  LAND  AMONG  THE  COMMON  PEOPLE  THE  REAL  CAUSE  OF  REVO- 
LUTION— DIAZ  DEADLY  RULE  OPENED  MANY  EYES — MADERO  POSED  AS 
FRIEND  BUT  BETRAYED  HIS  TRUST  IN  THE  CRUCIAL  MOMENT — COMMON 
MEXICAN  NOW  FIGHTING  FOR  A  HOME  FOR  HIS  CHILDREN 173 

CHAPTER  XV 
A  FEW  SIDELIGHTS  ON  ZAPATA 

SIDELIGHTS  ON  EMILIANO  ZAPATA  WHO  HAS  KEPT  MEXICO  GUESSING  SINCE 
THE  MADERO  REVOLUTION  SUCCEEDED — KNOWN  AS  THE  ' '  BLOODY  ATILLA 
OF  THE  SOUTH* ' — ZAPATISATS  SUPPOSED  TO  HAVE  TAKEN  A  PRICE  TO 
LAY  DOWN   THEIR  ARMS — THE  LEADER  CALLED   A  BRIGAND 181 


22  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  XVI 
CARRANZA  TURNS  ABOUT 

GENERAL  CARRANZA 'S  EFFORTS  TO  BLOCK  MEDIATION — UNITED  STATES  GOV- 
ERNMENT FINDS  FORMER  ADHERENT  OF  AMERICAN  POLICY  UNWILLING 
TO   AGREE — VILLA'S    STATEMENTS    OF   INTENT    TO  ADHERE  TO   AMERICAN 

PROGRAM  DESPITE  CARRANZA  DOUBTED COMPLICATIONS  THAT  MADE  THE 

MEDIATION  PROGRAM  A  DIFFICULT  ONE 187 

CHAPTER  XVII 
WHY  MEXICANS  DISLIKE  AMERICANS 

THE  INBORN  HATRED  FOR  A  "  GRINGO* ' — WHY  MEXICANS  DISLIKE  AMER- 
ICANS  WE    FEEL    OURSELVES     SUPERIOR    AND    SHOW    IT THE    MONROE 

DOCTRINE   CONSIDERED   ARROGANT — CALL   US   LAND   PIRATES 209 

CHAPTER  XVIII 

EVENTS  IN  MEXICO 

STIRRING  EVENTS  SINCE  THE  RETIREMENT  OF  DIAZ — THE  INSIDE  STORY  OF 
MADERO'S  ASSASSINATION — SECRET  OF  HUERTA  'S  POPULARITY  WITH 
THE  MASSES — CONSIDERED  A  BRAVE  MAN  PERSONALLY  AND  IDOLIZED  BY 
THE   MILITARY   FORCES — RECENT   HISTORY 213 

CHAPTER  XIX 

WONDERFUL  FERTILITY  OF  LAND 

MARVELOUS  AGRICULTURAL  POSSIBILITIES — TWO  CROPS  A  YEAR  IN  COAHUILA 
— BIG  IRRIGATION  PROJECTS  HALTED  BY  THE  REVOLUTION LAND  DES- 
TINED TO  BE  ONE  OF  THE  MOST  PROSPEROUS  AGRICULTURAL  REGIONS  IN 
THE    WORLD 221 

CHAPTER  XX 

GOVERNMENT  TACTICS  CONDEMNED 

AMERICANS  BARRICADED  IN  TAMPICO  HOTEL  BESIEGED  ALL  NIGHT — WOMEN 
AND  CHILDREN  MARCHED  NEARLY  NAKED  THROUGH  THE  STREETS  OF 
CORDOBA — BUSINESS  MEN  CARRIED  OFF  BY  THE  CONNECTICUT  AGAINST 
THEIR  PROTESTS  AND  THEIR  AFFAIRS  WRECKED 229 

CHAPTER  XXI 
BLOOD  SACRIFICE  AND  CANNIBAL  RITES 

AZTEC    TEMPLES    PILED    WITH    HUNDREDS    OF    THOUSANDS    OF    SKULLS    OF 

SACRIFICED  VICTIMS MANY   HIDEOUS    PRACTICES   DECLARED   TO    SURVIVE 

EVEN  NOW  AMONG  THE  IGNORANT  PEOPLES  OF  THE  INTERIOR 235 


' 


CONTENTS  23 

CHAPTER    XXII 
COMMODORE  CONNER  AT  VERA  CRUZ 

HOW  AMERICAN  MILITARY  AND  NAVAL  FORCES  REDUCED  THE  PORT  IN  1847 
— MORE  DIFFICULT  PROBLEMS  THAN  FACED  THE  1914  EXPEDITION — 
TAMPICO  CAPTURED  WITHOUT  DIFFICULTY — MEXICANS  FOUGHT  WELL.  ..239 

CHAPTER  XXIII 

CAUSES  OF  TWO  MEXICAN  DISPUTES 

DEMOCRATIC  ADMINISTRATIONS  IN  BOTH  MOST  RECENT  MEXICAN  TROUBLES 
— DEMOCRATS  BEATEN  AFTER  THE  LAST  WAR  THOUGH  A  VICTORIOUS 
CAMPAIGN  WAS  WAGED — PRESIDENT  WILSON  *S  PEACE  POLICY  CON- 
SIDERS   HISTORY 261 

CHAPTER  XXIV 

THE  MEXICAN  SECRET  SERVICE 

ORGANIZATION  FORMED  BY  PORFIRIO  DIAZ  PUT  TO  ALL  SORTS  OF  USES  AFTER 
THE  DICTATOR'S  RETIREMENT SPIES  EVERYWHERE — MYSTERIOUS  DIS- 
APPEARANCES COMMON — UNSAFE  TO  TALK  WITH  FREEDOM  IN  MEXICO 
CITY  ABOUT  THE  CURRENT  ADMINISTRATION 271 

CHAPTER  XXV 
THE  "TANGLEFOOT  PLANT' > 

THE  MAGUEY  PLANT  FROM  WHICH  PULQUE  IS  MADE  GROWS  WILD — CUL- 
TIVATION HAS  IMPROVED  THE  GROWTH — MEXICANS  CALL  IT  FOOD,  DRINK, 
HOUSE  AND   CLOTHING 276 

CHAPTER  XXVI 

THE  SALUTE  TO  THE  FLAG 

FEW  NATIONS   HAVE  EVER  DEMANDED  IT — COMPLIANCE  CONSIDERED  HIGHLY 

DEGRADING — WHY  HUERTA  DID  NOT   COMPLY 281 

CHAPTER  XXVII 

AMERICAN  MARINES  LEAD 

FIRST    ASHORE    WHEREVER    DANGER    IS — FIRST    UNDER    FIRE    AT    TIENTSIN, 

FIRST  IN  RELIEF  OF  PEKIN — A  BRAVE  CORPS 289 


24  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  XXVIII 
MEXICANS  A  SAVAGE  RACE 

MISTAKE   TO    REGARD    COUNTRY    AS    LATIN — AVERAGE    MEXICAN    MERELY    A 

MARAUDING  INDIAN — MASSES  DEGRADED  FOR  CENTURIES 296 

CHAPTER  XXIX 
VILLA  CALLS  MAAS    TRAITOR 

HOW  THE  PLOT  UNFOLDED — MAAS  FINDS   HIMSELF  REBLUFFED  BY  VILLA — 

LATTER  REFUSES   TO   FIGHT   AMERICANS   AT   FORMER'S    BIDDING 302 

CHAPTER  XXX 
VILLA'S  VISION  OF  THE  FUTURE 

WOULD    ABOLISH     ARMY — DO     AWAY     WITH     GRAFT — GIVE    EVERY     MAN     A 

CHANCE — MAKE  MEXICO  A  POOR  MAN  's  COUNTRY 307 

CHAPTER  XXXI 

HOME  FROM  MEXICO 

REFUGEES    TELL   OF   PERILS   AND   HARDSHIPS — JOHN  I.   NEWELL,   A  REFUGEE 

FROM  TAMPICO,  ARRIVES  IN  CHICAGO 315 


CHAPTER  I 
WATCHFUL  WAITING  ENDS 

THE  UNITED  STATES  IS  FORCED  INTO  A  PRACTICAL  STATE  OF 
WAR  WITH  MEXICO — MEXICO  CITY  SHOUTS  FOR  WAR  AS 
HUERTA,  THE  DICTATOR,  REFUSES  AMERICAN  DEMANDS 
THAT      HE      SALUTE      THE      AMERICAN      FLAG PRESIDENT 


THE  Government  of  the  United  States  made  a  prac- 
tical declaration  of  war  against  Mexico  on  April 
20,  1914,  when  President  Wilson,  after  patient 
effort  to  secure  redress  for  gross  insult  to  the  American 
flag,  went  before  Congress,  assembled  in  joint  session, 
asking  approval  for  "use  of  the  armed  forces  of  the 
United  States  against  General  Victoriano  Huerta  and  his 
adherents." 

That  the  United  States  desired  to  avoid  war  and  hoped 
to  obviate  actual  hostilities  through  presentation  of  a 
bold  front  to  the  truculent  dictator  at  Mexico  City,  is  gen- 
erally conceded,  but  in  the  subtle  mind  of  Huerta  the 
United  States  Government's  demand  upon  him,  with  the 
alternative  of  war,  was  welcome  indeed,  since  through 
this  demand  he  hoped  to  slip  out  of  the  trap  into  which 

25 


26 


WATCHFUL  WAITING  ENDS 


DEATH'S    CAVALRYMAN  —  THE    STATUE   OF   DEVASTATION  FRE- 
QUENTLY  MET  WITH  IN  MEXICO. 


WATCHFUL  WAITING  ENDS  27 

the  rebel  generals,  Villa  and  Carranza,  had  forced  him,  by- 
uniting  all  Mexican  factions  against  a  common  foe — the 
hated  Gringo. 

EVENTS  DEVELOPED   RAPIDLY 

The  rapid  developments  of  the  campaign  which  fol- 
lowed this  Governments  demand  for  a  salute  to  the 
United  States  flag  after  insults  to  a  boat's  crew  of  the 
Dolphin,  came  rather  as  a  surprise  to  the  American 
Government,  the  members  of  which  did  not  believe  that 
actual  war  would  follow  acts  of  reprisal  decided  on  by 
the  administration. 

The  calm  message  of  the  president  read  before  the 
joint  session  of  Congress  on  April  20,  was,  despite  its 
pacific  character,  considered  a  declaration  of  war  by 
several  foreign  ambassadors  at  Washington  who  noti- 
fied their  governments  forthwith  of  the  imminence  of 
hostilities. 

In  Mexico  City  the  intent  of  the  United  States  to 
enforce  respect  for  its  flag  and  uniform  was  not  regarded 
very  seriously  until  landing  parties  of  marines  were 
under  the  custom  house  walls  at  Vera  Cruz  and  rapid- 
fire  guns  of  the  Prairie  were  dropping  shells  ahead  of 
advancing  detachments. 

GENERAL  CARRANZA  *S  TERSE  DEMAND 

Within  twenty-four  hours  of  the  landing  of  the  first 
marine  at  Vera  Cruz,  so  rapidly  had  events  progressed, 
there  remained  no  further  doubt  of  the  seriousness  of 
the  military  and  naval  operations  upon  which  the  United 
States  was  embarked.  A  demand  from  General  Car- 
ranza at  the  head  of  the  Constitutionalist  forces  that 


28 


WATCHFUL  WAITING  ENDS 


the  Americans  evacuate  Vera  Cruz  forthwith,  brought 
the  first  shock  of  realization  that  what  the  United  States 
might  have  to  face  was  a  coalition  of  all  Mexican  forces 


"NAIL  MINE  TO  THE  MAST." 


in  the  field,  a  combination  of  the  fighting  Kilkenny  cats 
against  the  big  good-natured  bulldog  from  the  other  side 
of  the  fence. 


ne 


WATCHFUL  WAITING  ENDS  29 

The  optimism  of  President  Wilson  with  regard  to 
possible  peaceful  solution  of  the  difficulties  of  the  admin- 
istration with  the  disturbed  country  to  the  South,  was 
persisted  in  even  after  war  had  generally  been  accepted 
as  fact  at  home  and  abroad. 

The  statement  of  the  president  to  newspaper  cor- 
respondents at  the  White  House  after  his  demand  upon 
Congress  for  permission  to  use  force  if  necessary,  made 
it  evident  that,  by  using  the  big  stick  upon  Victoriano 
Huerta,  he  hoped  to  gain  the  confidence  and  support  of 
the  Constitutionalists  and  the  Mexican  nation  aside 
from  the  supporters  of  Huerta. 


Here  is  an  interview  President  Wilson  gave  out  on 
April  20,  while  the  Atlantic  squadron  was  already  steam- 
ing at  top  speed  for  Vera  Cruz : 

"I  want  to  say  to  you  gentlemen,  do  not  get  the 
impression  that  there  is  about  to  be  war  between  this 
country  and  Mexico.  That  is  not  the  outlook  at  present. 
In  the  first  place,  in  no  conceivable  circumstances  will 
we  fight  the  people  of  Mexico.  We  are  their  friends  and 
we  want  to  help  them  in  every  way  to  recover  their 
rights,  their  government  and  their  laws,  and  for  the 
present  I  am  asking  Congress  to  give  me  authority  for 
dealing  with  a  special  situation.  I  am  seeking  the 
approval  of  Congress  for  my  plan  of  dealing  with  that 
situation. 

"The  issue  exists  only  between  this  Government  and 
a  person  calling  himself  the  provisional  president  of 
Mexico,  whose  right  to  so  designate  himself  we  have 
never  in  any  way  recognized. 


30  WATCHFUL  WAITING  ENDS 

"I  have  been  filled  with  uneasiness  at  some  signs 
that  the  country  is  becoming  fired  with  enthusiasm  for 
war.  I  have  no  enthusiasm  for  war.  I  have  enthusiasm 
for  justice  and  for  the  dignity  of  the  United  States,  but 
not  for  war.  And  this  situation  need  not  eventuate  into 
war  if  we  handle  it  with  firmness  and  promptitude. ' ' 

AMBASSADOES   EEALIZE   SITUATION 

The  newspapers  of  Washington  which  were  the  first 
to  appear  containing  President  Wilson's  speech  to  the 
Congress  and  his  subsequent  interview,  above  quoted, 
found  ready  readers  among  attaches  of  the  foreign  lega- 
tions. The  German  ambassador  was  declared  to  have 
cabled  his  government  that  the  war  with  Mexico  was  a 
certainty  and  that  "a  modernized  Abraham  Lincoln" 
was  in  charge  of  the  American  forces. 

It  is  well  to  add  here  that  throughout  the  difficult 
exchanges  with  Huerta,  Villa,  Carranza  and  other  osten- 
sible  Mexican  authorities,  which  preceded  President 
Wilson's  benevolent  "declaration  of  intent,' '  all  foreign 
governments  behaved  with  the  most  punctilious  propriety 
under  circumstances  which  might  well  have  become 
strained,  since  British,  German,  Spanish  and  other 
nationals  had  suffered  severely  at  the  hands  of  irrespon- 
sible rebel  leaders  and  pseudo  authorities  from  one  end 
of  Mexico  to  the  other,  and  only  faith  in  the  ultimate 
certainty  of  American  intervention  to  restore  order  had 
restrained  the  governments  of  Europe  from  taking  the 
law  into  their  own  hands. 


CHAPTER  II 
HUERTA    MUST    BE    HUMBLED 

IMPRESSIVE  SCENE  IN"  CONGRESS  WHEN  PRESIDENT  WILSON 
ASKS  RIGHT  TO  ENFORCE  WITH  ARMS  THE  AMERICAN 
DEMANDS  ON  HUERTA — BRILLIANT  CONCOURSE  OF  DIPLO- 
MATS IN  FULL  UNIFORM  PRESENT — THE  PRESIDENT^' 
SPEECH. 

NO  such  impressive   scene  has  been  witnessed  in 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States  since  war  was 
declared  against   Spain,   as  was  that  presented 
when  the  schoolmaster  president  asked,  in  simple,  plain 
language,   the    right   to   use    armed   force   in   securing 
redress  for  insult  to  the  American  flag. 

The  diplomatic  galleries  were  crowded  with  bril- 
liantly uniformed  members  of  the  diplomatic  corps. 
Ambassadors  Spring-Rice  of  Great  Britain,  Jusserand 
of  France,  and  the  representatives  of  other  governments 
appeared  in  full  uniform.  Every  seat  in  the  foreign 
section  was  filled  and  the  galleries  were  crowded.  Mrs. 
Wilson,  wife  of  the  president,  Mrs.  Francis  Bowes  Sayre 
and  Miss  Margaret  Wilson,  represented  the  White 
House. 

There  was  death-like  silence  as  the  president 
advanced  to  ask  authority  for  the  use  of  force.  Mr. 
Wilson's  face  was  pale,  his  jaw  set.    He  seemed  to  pre- 

31 


32 


HUERTA  MUST  BE  HUMBLED 


UNTIL  WILSON  KICKS  OFF  THE  SLATS. 


HUERTA  MUST  BE  HUMBLED  33 

serve  a  calm  demeanor  only  by  the  exercise  of  great 
effort. 

The  president  said: 

" Gentlemen  of  the  Congress:  It  is  my  duty  to  call 
your  attention  to  a  situation  which  has  arisen  in  our 
dealings  with  General  Victoriano  Huerta  at  Mexico 
City,  which  calls  for  action,  and  to  ask  your  advice  and 
co-operation  in  acting  upon  it. 

"On  the  9th  of  April  a  paymaster  of  the  U.  S.  S. 
Dolphin  landed  at  the  Iturbide  bridge  at  Tampico,  with 
a  whaleboat  and  boat's  crew  to  take  off  certain  supplies 
needed  by  his  ship,  and,  while  engaged  in  loading  the 
boat,  was  arrested  by  an  officer  and  squad  of  men  of 
the  army  of  General  Huerta.  Neither  the  paymaster  nor 
anyone  of  the  boat  's  crew  was  armed. 

"Two  of  the  men  were  in  the  boat  when  the  arrest 
took  place  and  were  obliged  to  leave  it  and  submit  to 
be  taken  into  custody,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the 
boat  carried,  both  at  her  bow  and  at  her  stern,  the  flag 
of  the  United  States.  The  pfficer  who  made  the  arrest 
was  proceeding  up  one  of  the  streets  of  the  town  with 
his  prisoners  when  met  by  an  officer  of  higher  authority, 
who  ordered  him  to  return  to  the  landing  and  await 
orders,  and  within  an  hour  and  a  half  from  the  time  of 
the  arrest,  orders  were  received  from  the  commander  of 
the  Huertista  forces  at  Tampico  for  the  release  of  the 
paymaster  and  his  men. 

APOLOGIES   SLOW  IN    COMING 

"The  release  was  followed  by  apologies  from  the 

commander  and  later  by  an  expression  of  regret  by 

.General  Huerta  himself.     General  Huerta  urged  that 


34 


HUERTA  MUST  BE  HUMBLED 


=Sr«« 


ft*  **>/^"*/  •>--S/'|S "  ,.■  * 


Ss**' 


GOING  IT  BLIND, 


IIUERTA  MUST  BE  HUMBLED  35 

martial  law  obtained  at  the  time  at  Tampico ;  that  orders 
had  been  issued  that  no  one  should  be  allowed  to  land 
at  the  Iturbide  bridge;  and  that  our  sailors  had  no 
right  to  land  there. 

"Our  naval  commanders  at  the  port  had  not  been 
notified  of  any  such  prohibition,  and,  even  if  they  had 
been,  the  only  justifiable  course  open  to  the  local  author- 
ities would  have  been  to  request  the  paymaster  and  his 
crew  to  withdraw  and  to  lodge  a  protest  with  the  com- 
manding officer  of  the  fleet. 

"Admiral  Mayo  regarded  the  arrest  as  so  serious 
an  affront  that  he  was  not  satisfied  with  the  apologies 
offered,  but  demanded  that  the  flag  of  the  United  States 
be  saluted  with  special  ceremony  by  the  military  com- 
mander of  the  port. 

"The  incident  cannot  be  regarded  as  a  trivial  one, 
especially  as  two  of  the  men  arrested  were  taken  from 
the  boat  itself — that  is  to  say,  from  the  territory  of  the 
United  States ;  but  had  it  stood  by  itself,  it  might  have 
been  attributed  to  the  ignorance  or  arrogance  of  a  single 
officer.    Unfortunately  it  was  not  an  isolated  case. 

MANY  INSULTS  OFFEEED 

"A  series  of  incidents  have  recently  occurred  which 
cannot  but  create  the  impression  that  the  representatives 
of  General  Huerta  were  willing  to  go  out  of  their  way 
to  show  disregard  for  the  dignity  and  rights  of  this 
Government,  and  felt  perfectly  safe  in  doing  what  they 
pleased,  making  free  to  show  in  many  ways  their  irrita- 
tion and  contempt. 

THEY   HATE   AMEKICANS 

"A  few  days  atter  the  incident  at  Tampico  an  orderly 
from  the  U.  S.  S.  Minnesota  was  arrested  at  Vera  Cruz 


36 


HUERTA  MUST  BE  HUMBLED 


BRYAN   (IX  AXGUISHED  SOXG) :    "JIXGLE  BELLS,  JIXGLE  BELLS, 
JINGLE  ALL  THE  DAY." 


HUERTA  MUST  BE  HUMBLED  37 

while  ashore  in  uniform  to  obtain  the  ship's  mail,  and 
was  for  a  time  thrown  into  jail.  An  official  dispatch 
from  this  Government  to  its  embassy  at  Mexico  City  was 
withheld  by  the  authorities  of  the  telegraphic  service 
until  peremptorily  demanded  by  our  charge  d'affaires  in 
person.  So  far  as  I  can  learn  such  wrongs  and  annoy- 
ances have  been  suffered  only  to  occur  against  repre- 
sentatives of  the  United  States.  I  have  heard  of  no 
complaints  from  other  governments  of  similar  treatment. 
"Subsequent  explanations  and  formal  apologies  did 
not  and  could  not  alter  the  popular  impression,  which  it 
is  possible  it  had  been  the  object  of  the  Huertista  author- 
ities to  create,  that  the  Government  of  the  United  States 
was  being  singled  out  and  might  be  singled  out  with 
impunity  for  slights  and  affronts  in  retaliation  for  its 
refusal  to  recognize  the  pretensions  of  General  Huerta 
to  be  regarded  as  the  constitutional  provisional  president 
of  the  Eepublic  of  Mexico. 

GOING    FKOM   BAD    TO    WOESE 

"The  manifest  danger  of  such  a  situation  was  that 
such  offenses  might  grow  from  bad  to  worse  until  some- 
thing happened  of  so  gross  and  intolerable  a  sort  as  to 
lead  directly  and  inevitably  to  armed  conflict.  It  was 
necessary  that  the  apologies  of  General  Huerta  and  his 
representatives  should  go  much  further,  that  they  should 
be  such  as  to  attract  the  attention  of  the  whole  popula- 
tion of  their  significance,  and  such  as  to  impress  upon 
General  Huerta  himself  the  necessity  of  seeing  to  it 
that  no  further  occasion  for  explanations  and  professed 
regrets  should  arise. 

"I,  therefore,  felt  it  my  duty  to   sustain  Admiral 


38 


HUERTA  MUST  BE  HUMBLED 


'GOSH!  I  HATE  TO  PUT  MY  FOOT  IN  THAT  PUDDLE.' 


HUERTA  MUST  BE  HUMBLED  39 

Mayo  in  the  whole  of  his  demand  and  to  insist  that  the 
flag  of  the  United  States  should  be  saluted  in  such  a 
way  as  to  indicate  a  new  spirit  and  attitude  on  the  part 
of  the  Huertistas. 

HUEKTA   REFUSES    SALUTE 

"Such  a  salute  General  Huerta  has  refused,  and  I 
have  come  to  ask  your  approval  and  support  in  the 
course  I  now  purpose  to  pursue. 

"This  Government  can,  I  earnestly  hope,  in  no  cir- 
cumstances be  forced  into  war  with  the  people  of  Mexico. 
Mexico  is  torn  by  civil  strife.  If  we  are  to  accept  the 
tests  of  its  own  constitution,  it  has  no  government.  Gen- 
eral Huerta  has  set  his  power  up  in  the  City  of  Mexico, 
such  as  it  is,  without  right  and  by  methods  for  which 
there  can  be  no  justification.  Only  part  of  the  country 
is  under  his  control. 

OXLY  AFTER  HUERTA 

"If  armed  conflict  should  unhappily  come  as  a  result 
of  his  attitude  of  personal  resentment  toward  this  Gov- 
ernment, we  should  be  fighting  only  General  Huerta  and 
those  who  adhere  to  him  and  give  him  their  support,  and 
our  object  would  be  only  to  restore  to  the  people  of  the 
distracted  republic  the  opportunity  to  set  up  again  their 
own  laws  and  their  own  government. 

1 '  But  I  earnestly  hope  that  war  is  not  now  in  question. 
I  believe  that  I  speak  for  the  American  people  when  I 
say  that  we  do  not  desire  to  control  in  any  degree  the 
affairs  of  our  sister  republic.  Our  feeling  for  the  people 
of  Mexico  is  one  of  deep  and  genuine  friendship,  and 
everything  that  we  have  so  far  done  or  refrained  from 


40  HUERTA  MUST  BE  HUMBLED 

doing  has  proceeded  from  our  desire  to  help  them,  not 
to  hinder  or  embarrass  them.  We  would  not  wish  even 
to  exercise  the  good  offices  of  friendship  without  their 
welcome  and  consent. 

NO   WAR   AGAINST    MEXICANS 

"The  people  of  Mexico  are  entitled  to  settle  their 
own  domestic  affairs  in  their  own  way,  and  we  sincerely 
desire  to  respect  their  right.  The  present  situation  need 
have  none  of  the  grave  complications  of  interference  if 
we  deal  with  it  promptly,  firmly  and  wisely. 

"No  doubt  I  could  do  what  is  necessary  in  the  cir- 
cumstances to  enforce  respect  for  our  Government  with- 
out recourse  to  the  Congress,  and  yet  not  exceed  my 
constitutional  powers  as  president ;  but  I  do  not  wish  to 
act  in  a  matter  possibly  of  so  grave  consequences  except 
in  close  conference  and  co-operation  with  both  the  Senate 
and  House. 

1 '  I,  therefore,  come  to  ask  your  approval  that  I  should 
use  the  armed  forces  of  the  United  States  in  such  ways 
and  to  such  an  extent  as  may  be  necessary  to  obtain  from 
General  Huerta  and  his  adherents  the  fullest  recognition 
of  the  rights  and  dignity  of  the  United  States,  even 
amidst  the  distressing  conditions  now  unhappily  obtain- 
ing in  Mexico. 

"There  can,  in  what  we  do,  be  no  thought  of  aggres- 
sion or  of  selfish  aggrandizement. 

"We  seek  to  maintain  the  dignity  and  authority  of 
the  United  States  only  because  we  wish  always  to  keep 
our  great  influence  impaired  for  the  uses  of  liberty,  both 
in  the  United  States  and  wherever  else  it  may  be 
employed  for  the  benefit  of  mankind." 


CHAPTER  III 
THE  WAR  LORDS  CONFER 

THE  AMERICAN"  MAN"  IN  THE  STREET  TIRED  OF  HUERTA'S 
TRUCULENT  TALK  BECAME  ENTHUSIASTIC  FOR  WAR — GEN- 
ERAL BELIEF  THAT  HUERTA,  CARRANZA  AND  VILLA  RE- 
QUIRED   A    DOSE    OF    THE    SCHOOLMASTER^    BIG    STICK 

O'SHAUGHNESSY   HANDED    HIS  PASSPORTS. 

WAR! 
Disguise  our  feelings  as  we  may  beneath  the 
veneer  of  an  ultra  modern  civilization  there 
is  a  tremendous  thrill  in  the  very  word  war. 

Average  citizens  of  the  United  States,  while  approv- 
ing the  extreme  patience  and  indifference  to  jingo  clamor 
which  characterized  President  Wilson's  dealings  with 
the  socalled  leaders  in  Mexican  affairs,  nevertheless 
hoped  that  some  means  would  be  found  to  punish  the 
insolence  of  Victoriano  Huerta,  the  arrogance  of  "Pan- 
els" Villa,  and  the  grinning  complacence  of  the  rebel 
commander,  Carranza. 

AMERICANS   TIRED    OF    INSULTS 

Huerta 's  devious  methods  in  dealing  with  problems 
arising  out  of  the  American  Government's  refusal  to 
recognize  his  dictatorship,  Villa's  insolent  retorts  to 
demands  of  the  United  States  in  the  Benton  case,  and 

41 


42 


THE  WAR  LORDS  CONFER 


WHY   PRESIDENT   WILSON  WILL  NOT  RECOGNIZE   HTTERTA   OR 
ANY  OTHER  DEATH'S  HEAD  PRESIDENT. 


THE  WAR  LORDS  CONFER  43 

Carranza's  complication  of  affairs  by  a  belated  assump- 
tion of  authority  over  Villa's  acts,  exasperated  the 
American  man  in  the  street,  though  officials  of  the 
United  States  Government  maintained  the  same  calm, 
patient  front  that  had  come  to  be  viewed  by  red-blooded 
citizens  of  the  Northern  Eepublic  with  something  akin 
to  exasperation. 

The  firing  of  the  first  gun  at  Vera  Cruz  by  the  first 
marine  ashore,  and  the  subsequent  death  of  that  marine 
at  the  hands  of  snipers,  sent  a  quiver  through  the 
American  nation  from  Maine  to  California. 

The  guns  of  the  Prairie  reverberated  not  only  across 
this  continent  but  around  the  world  as  well.  In  New 
York  city  the  news  that  resistence  had  been  offered  to 
American  arms  set  crowds  of  men  and  women  singing 
war  songs  in  the  restaurants  along  Broadway.  In 
Chicago  the  same  scenes  were  enacted.  The  Tango  gave 
way  to  the  patriotic  song  and  " Dixie' '  by  acclamation 
succeeded  the  ' '  Tres  Moutarde ' '  of  idler  moments. 

THE   RISING    SPIRIT    OF    WAR 

In  every  city,  in  every  village,  in  every  hamlet 
throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land  there  were 
signs  of  the  rising  spirit  of  war,  which  President  Wilson 
and  his  cabinet  had  so  long  hesitated  to  arouse.  The 
National  Guard  organizations,  far  more  efficient  than 
jingo  editors  had  given  them  credit  for  being,  worked 
without  orders  to  bring  their  units  to  the  point  of 
immediate  effectiveness  in  anticipation  of  the  call  for 
reinforcements  which  everybody  felt  was  sure  to  come. 

On  the  morning  of  April  23,  three  days  after  Presi- 
dent Wilson's  pacific  utterances  about  the  military  move- 


44 


THE  WAR  LORDS  CONFER 


S*   MM" 


UNCLE  SAM:     "OH,  TUT!     I  WONDER  IF  I'D  BETTER  SHOW  THAT 
DINGO  HOW  TO  SHOOT." 


THE  WAR  LORDS  CONFER  45 

ment  of  his  government  against  Huerta,  a  member  of 
the  cabinet  admitted  unofficially  that  the  United  States 
might  have  to  fight  both  Huerta  and  the  rebels. 

A  CABINET  MINISTEK  TALKS 

These  words  were  attributed  to  the  cabinet  minister : 

"  Coincident  with  the  demand  of  General  Carranza 
that  the  United  States  evacuate  Vera  Cruz,  General 
Huerta  has  severed  diplomatic  relations  with  the  United 
States.  Nelson  O'Shaughnessy,  American  charge 
d'affaires  at  Mexico  City,  has  been  handed  his  passports. 
Senor  Aigara,  the  Mexican  charge  d'affaires,  will  leave 
Washington  today.    These  facts  spell  war." 

Simultaneously  the  navy  department  gave  out  the 
following  official  information: 

1 '  Twelve  American  sailors  and  marines  have  been 
killed  and  fifty  wounded  in  the  operations  against  Vera 
Cruz  up  to  noon  today." 

huekta's  tkuculent  talk 

On  the  same  day  Victoriano  Huerta,  the  dictator, 
displayed  his  genius  for  seizing  opportunity,  when  he 
issued  this  statement  to  the  press  of  Mexico  City : 

"Mexico  is  defending  not  only  her  national  sov- 
ereignty, but  that  of  all  Latin  America  as  well.  This  is 
not  a  war  between  the  American  and  Mexican  peoples, 
but  between  Mexico  and  the  Government  of  the  United 
States,  which  is  controlled  by  men  who  have  forced  this 
situation  upon  us  in  spite  of  our  efforts  to  the  contrary. 
We  shall  have  400,000  men  in  the  field  in  twenty  days. 

"In  the  port  of  Vera  Cruz  we  are  defending  with 


GUILTY! 


STEEL  ARMORED  CARS  GOOD  COVER. 


A  GUN  CAPTURED  IN  JUAREZ. 


PREPARING  FOR  TROUBLE— FORT  BLISS. 


WHAT  AN  ARMORED  CAR  LOOKS  LIKE. 


EXECUTION— HIS  BACK  TO  Till-     'DOBE. 


,,.:*«*.  oan 


ARMORED  CAR  USED  BY  MADERO'S  FORCES. 


WHERE   RUINS   STALK— CITY   OF   MEXICO. 


AFTER  MADERO— ARTILLERY  LEAVING  CIUDADELA. 


Photograph,  Underwood  and  Underwood 

A   GKOUP    OF    CONSTITUTIONALIST    OFFICEKS. 


Copyrighted  by  Underwood  and  l  mlenvood 

ZAPOTEU  WOMEN  AT  HOME— FAMED  FOR  THEIE  BEAUTY. 


Copyrighted  by  Underwood  and  Underwood 

IN  THE  PEANUT  MARKET  AT  OMEALCO. 


Copyrighted  by  Underwood  and  Underwood 

VIEW  OF  JALAPA— THE  CAPITAL  OF  VERA  CRUZ. 


Copyrighted  by  Underwood  and  Underwoou 

THE  MUNICIPAL  WASHHOUSE  AT  JALAPA. 


Copyrig 


rwood  and  Underwood 

MAGUEY  FIBRE  WEAVERS  AT  MONTEREY. 


Copyrighted  by  Underwood  and  Underwood 

SELLING  CHILIS   (EED  PEPPERS)   IN  THE  MARKET  PLACE. 


Copyrighted  by  Underwood  and  Underwood 

TAPPING  RUBBER— THE.  ISTHMUS  OF  TEHUANTEPEC. 


Copyrighted  by  Underwood  and  Underwood 

THE  INDIAN  MARKET  AT  AMECAMECA. 


i                                                  ■ 

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.          '-A         -' 

'......'■■■■ 

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r  1  fiB 

4ii             <=  •;  ; 

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Copyrighted  by  Underwood  and  Underwood 

CUTTING  SUGAR  CANE— ISTHMUS  OF  TEHUANTEPEC. 


CHAPTER  IV 
MEN  WHO  COMMAND  OUR  FORCES 

AMERICAN"  MILITARY  AND  NAVAL  AFFAIRS  IN  COMPETENT 
HANDS REAR  ADMIRAL  BADGER  COMMANDED  THE  CINCIN- 
NATI   IN    THE    SPANISH    WAR GEN.    LEONARD    WOOD    HAS 

SEEN    SERVICE,    TOO MEXICAN    FEELING    AGAINST    AMERI- 
CANS    DUE     IN     PART     TO     WAR     OF    1848 JEALOUSY     OF 

AMERICAN   PROGRESS. 

SO  FAR  as  the  first  movement  against  Mexican  dis- 
orderly elements  is  concerned,  the  interests  of  the 
United  States  were  in  competent  hands. 
There  were  few  men  in  the  American  navy  who  had 
seen  more  sea  duty  than  Rear  Admiral  Charles  Johnston 
Badger,  in  command  of  the  Atlantic  squadron  off  Tam- 
pico.  He  was  "born  to  the  navy"  his  friends  say,  for 
his  father  was  an  admiral  before  him,  and  was  in  com- 
mand of  the  Boston  Navy  Yard  for  many  years. 

Admiral  Badger  went  twice  to  China,  once  in  his  mid- 
shipman days  and  later  as  executive  officer  of  a  battle- 
ship. Several  years  ago,  when  the  president  sent  a  fleet 
to  pay  a  social  visit  to  the  great  powers  of  Europe, 
Admiral  Badger  was  in  command  of  the  squadron. 

He  was  appointed  to  Annapolis  in  1869  by  President 
Grant  and  graduated  in  the  class  of  1873.  He  entered 
the  navy  as  midshipman  under  most  auspicious  circum- 
stances, for  his  first  duty  was   a  cruise  through  the 

65 


66  MEN  WHO  COMMAND  OUR  FORCES 

islands  of  the  North  Pacific  Ocean  on  board  the  Narra- 
ganset,  commanded  by  the  hero  of  Manila  Bay,  Admiral 
Dewey. 

BADGER  FALLS  IN  LOVE 

After  three  years  of  sea  duty  he  was,  under  the  regu- 
lations, entitled  to  a  turn  on  land,  but  the  inherited  love 
of  the  sea  asserted  itself  and  instead  of  taking  his  turn 
at  shore  duty,  which  most  of  the  modern  young  naval 
officers  look  forward  to  as  the  bright  spot  in  an  other- 
wise desolate  life,  he  applied  for  a  ship  and  was  sent  on 
a  long  cruise  to  China. 

By  the  time  that  cruise  was  ended,  young  Badger 
had  begun  to  attract  the  attention  of  the  powers  in 
Washington.  He  was  ordered  to  report  to  Captain 
(afterwards  Admiral)   Schley,  for  hazardous  duty. 

Captain  Schley  had  been  delegated  to  take  a  cruiser 
up  into  the  polar  regions,  and  to  bring  back  Greeley's 
party,  and  he  chose  young  Badger  as  his  aide.  It  was  an 
eventful  and  a  successful  trip,  fraught  with  much  hard- 
ship. The  records  tell  strange  tales  of  the  dangers 
encountered  and  Badger's  name  is  frequently  mentioned. 

Then  came  a  period  of  rest  and  shore  duty.  This  time 
Badger  did  not  object.  He  still  loved  the  sea,  but  he 
loved  a  girl  also,  and  it  is  no  nice  thing  for  a  young 
bridegroom  to  be  parted  from  his  bride  and  to  be  ordered 
off  for  a  long  cruise. 

After  about  a  year  and  a  half  the  call  of  the  sea  once 
more  rang  in  his  ears  and  he  again  applied  for  a  ship 
and  this  time  he  was  ordered  aboard  the  Brooklyn  as 
executive  officer  for  a  cruise  to  China  and  other  far 
eastern  countries. 


MEN  WHO  COMMAND  OUR  FORCES 


67 


BOTH  CARRION  NO  MATTER  WHAT  THEY  CALL  THEMSELVES. 


68  MEN  WHO  COMMAND  OUR  FORCES 

MADE  COMMANDEB  OF  THE  DOLPHIN 

He  returned  to  America  just  about  the  time  the 
Dolphin  was  purchased  for  use  as  the  president's  yacht, 
and  Badger,  who  was  then  a  commander,  was  designated 
by  the  president  first  to  serve  as  executive  officer  and 
later  as  commander  of  the  yacht.  In  those  days  the 
president's  yacht  was  often  in  use  on  actual  sea  duty 
in  connection  with  the  Atlantic  fleet. 

Badger  commanded  the  Dolphin  for  several  years 
and  then  was  sent  to  Annapolis,  first  as  superintendent, 
and  later  as  commandant. 

Again  the  sea  called,  and  Commander  Badger  asked 
to  be  given  a  ship  and  was  placed  in  command  of  one  of 
the  new  battleships  then  attached  to  the  Atlantic 
squadron. 

Then  came  the  Spanish  war,  and  not  to  have  seen 
active  service  where  the  fighting  was  going  on  would 
have  broken  his  heart,  his  friends  say.  He  was  placed  in 
command  of  the  Cincinnati,  and  served  under  Admirals 
Schley  and  Sampson  off  the  coast  of  Cuba  during  the 
whole  of  that  war,  and  again  the  records  of  the  navy 
department  make  frequent  mention  of  his  bravery  and 
tact. 

After  his  return  from  the  European  trip  he  com- 
manded the  battleship  Kansas  in  the  Atlantic  fleet,  and 
in  1911  he  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  rear  admiral  and 
placed  in  command  of  the  second  division  of  the  Atlantic 
fleet,  succeeding  Admiral  Osterhouse,  retired,  and  his 
flagship  now  is  the  Minnesota. 

Gen.  Leonard  Wood  was  the  man  first  mentioned  to 
.lead  the  United  States  army  into  Mexico. 

If  it  came  to  a  question  of  policing,  which  many 


MEN  WHO  COMMAND  OUR  FORCES  69 

experts  believed  would  be  the  hardest  part  of  the  work  in 
case  the  United  States  undertook  to  pacify  Mexico,  Gen- 
eral Wood  was  thought  the  man  for  the  job.  He  knows 
guerilla  fighting  and  how  to  deal  with  the  irregulars  who 
were  expected  to  harass  American  detachments  after 
the  big  engagements  of  the  war. 

WOOD    KNOWS    THE   GAME 

Hunting  down  murderous  guerillas  in  a  wild  country 
may  be  far  more  dangerous  than  a  pitched  battle. 
Heroism  may  be  displayed  that  requires  more  real  grit 
than  the  excitement  inspired  heroism  of  the  regiment 
which  charges  a  bullet  swept  hill.  But  display  type  is  not 
so  often  devoted  to  such  a  display. 

HAD    BEEN    BITTERLY    ATTACKED 

No  officer  of  our  army,  with  the  possible  exception  of 
Grant,  was  ever  the  subject  of  such  bitter  attacks  and 
such  unstinted  praise,  as  General  Wood.  His  enemies 
charged  that  while  he  was  in  Cuba  he  gave  orders  to  the 
courts,  that  he  received  presents  worth  thousands  of 
dollars  from  a  gambling  syndicate  and  that  in  return  he 
gave  them  exclusive  privileges. 

On  the  other  hand,  his  friends  draw  a  far  different 
picture  of  him.    One  of  them  said  of  him: 

"I  know  that  General  Wood  was  over  three  thousand 
dollars  loser  on  his  private  account  in  the  endeavor  to 
maintain  the  dignity  of  his  position  as  governor  of  Cuba. 
He  had  the  absolute  disbursement  of  the  insular  fund, 
over  thirteen  million  dollars  a  year,  but  he  left  Cuba  with 
nothing  except  the  remnant  of  his  depleted  savings  from 
his  pay — clean." 


70  MEN  WHO  COMMAND  OUR  FORCES 

SON  OF  A  COUNTRY  DOCTOR 

General  Wood  was  born  in  Winchester,  in  rugged  New 
Hampshire,  October  9,  1860.  His  father  was  a  country 
doctor  who  fought  in  the  Civil  war  and  was  a  direct 
descendant  of  Peregrine  White,  the  first  colonial  Puritan 
born  on  American  soil,  and  of  General  Nixon,  who  fought 
at  Lexington,  Bunker  Hill  and  Saratoga. 

He  went  to  the  academy  in  a  nearby  town,  and  after- 
ward to  Harvard  Medical  School. 

Wood's  first  post  after  passing  the  examination  for 
army  surgeon  was  at  Fort  Huachuca,  Arizona.  He  had 
taken  this  assignment  because  it  was  the  only  one  at 
that  time  (1886)  where  there  seemed  to  be  any  chance  of 
fighting.  Geronimo  and  his  band  of  Apaches  were  then 
on  the  rampage,  making  good  the  reputation  of  that  tribe 
by  killing  some  eight  hundred  victims.  General  Miles 
and  Captain  Lawton — later  General  Lawton — were  out 
in  the  desert  to  stamp  out  the  rebellion. 

A  dramatic  chase  ensued.  Over  about  two  thousand 
miles  of  the  worst  country  in  the  United  States,  of  shel- 
terless, sun  baked  desert,  of  wild  mountains,  and  buttes, 
they  followed  the  fleeing  marauders.  Geronimo  surren- 
dered on  September  4,  after  they  had  followed  him  for 
four  months,  with  but  four  days'  rest. 

Wood  next  commanded  an  expedition  to  capture  some 
Indians  who  had  escaped,  covering  2,000  miles  through 
the  same  country  in  this  chase.  His  next  duty  was 
against  "Apache  Kid,"  in  1887- '88. 

MARRIED  IN  1880  BETWEEN  EIGHTS 

In  1880  he  married  Miss  Louise  A.  Condit  Smith  of 
Washington.    In  1891  he  was  promoted  to  captain  and 


MEN  WHO  COMMAND  OUR  FORCES  71 

assistant  surgeon  and  on  May  8,  1898,  he  was  appointed 
colonel  of  the  First  Cavalry,  United  States  Volunteers, 
which  you  will  recognize  easier  as  the  Eough  Eiders. 

"I  formed  the  acquaintance  of  Mr.  Eoosevelt  in 
1896,' '  said  General  "Wood  in  speaking  of  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  Eough  Eiders.  "We  were  guests  at  a  dinner 
and  walked  home  together.  We  found  we  had  many 
interests  in  common. 

"At  the  outbreak  of  the  Spanish  war  a  suggestion 
was  made  for  mounted  riflemen.  Secretary  Alger  prom- 
ised me  the  command  of  one  of  the  southwestern  regi- 
ments of  mounted  riflemen  and  I  think  he  offered  another 
one  to  Mr.  Eoosevelt,  who  promptly  said  he  would  go 
along  with  me  as  lieutenant  colonel. ' ' 

COMMANDED  THE  EOUGH  KIDEKS 

The  career  of  the  Eough  Eiders  is  too  recent  history 
to  need  retelling. 

On  December  7,  1898,  Wood  was  appointed  major 
general,  U.  S.  Volunteers.  In  1899  fever  broke  out  in 
Santiago,  and  General  Wood  was  sent  from  the  United 
States  to  stamp  it  out,  which  he  did  in  less  than  thirty 
days. 

Elihu  Eoot  appointed  General  Wood  military  gov- 
ernor of  Cuba,  and  the  latter  thereupon  started  what  was 
probably  the  greatest  job  of  housecleaning  in  the  history 
of  the  world.  He  took  a  decidedly  besmeared  "Pearl  of 
the  Antilles'  *  and  soaped  it  until  it  was  brilliantly  clean. 

In  1901  General  Wood  was  appointed  a  brigadier  gen- 
eral in  the  regular  army.  As  governor  of  the  Moro 
province  in  the  Philippines,  General  Wood  taught  half 
a  million  heathen  pirates,  slave  dealers  and  head  hunters 
that  American  laws  are  not  to  be  trifled  with. 


72 


MEN  WHO  COMMAND  OUR  FORCES 


In  1903  he  was  appointed  major  general,  U.  S.  A., 
and  from  1906  to  1908  he  commanded  the  entire  Philip- 
pine division,  with  its  18,000  troops.  After  that  he  was 
commander  of  the  department  of  the  east,  with  head- 
quarters in  New  York,  then  chief  of  staff  of  the  army, 
finally  being  succeeded  by  General  Wotherspoon,  as 
he  was  considered  too  valuable  a  man  to  keep  in 
Washington. 


CHAPTER  V 
VILLA'S  PROTEST ATIONS  OF  GOOD  WILL 

IN"  A  CONFEBENCE  AT  JTJAKEZ  WITH  SPECIAL  AGENT  CAEOTHEKS, 

VILLA  PKOCLAIMED  FEIENDSHIP  FOR  THE  UNITED  STATES 

CALLED  HUEETA  AN  OLD  DEUNKAED DECLAEE   EFFOETS  TO 

EMBEOIL  NOETHEEN  MEXICO  DUE  TO  CAPITALISTIC  INFLU- 
ENCES  EMBEACE  AMEEICAN  EEPEESENTATIVE. 

AFTER  General  Carranza's  rather  truculent  mes- 
sage to  President  Wilson,  in  which  he  demanded 
that  the  American  forces  evacuate  Vera  Cruz, 
forthwith,  and  President  Wilson's  refusal  to  accede  to 
the  demand,  an  effort  was  made  to  patch  up  a  peace 
between  the  United  States  Government  and  the  Consti- 
tutionalist forces  by  sending  "Pancho"  Villa  to  Juarez 
from  Chihuahua  to  meet  George  C.  Carothers,  special 
agent  of  the  state  department  at  Washington.  Mr. 
Carothers  went  from  El  Paso  to  meet  the  rebel  chief. 

Villa  arrived  in  Juarez  April  23d,  without  an  escort, 
despite  rumors  that  he  had  a  following  of  five  trains 
loaded  with  troops  and  that  he  intended  to  capture  and 
sack  El  Paso. 

VILLA  EFFUSIVELY  FEIENDLY 

But  there  was  nothing  truculent  in  the  attitude  of 
Villa  when  he  greeted  the  United  States  representative 

73 


74        VILLA'S  PROTESTATIONS  OF  GOOD  WILL 

in  the  presence  of  newspaper  correspondents  by  putting 
his  arm  around  Carother's  shoulders  in  token  of  amity. 
Villa  addressed  himself  to  Mr.  Carothers  and  to  the 
newspaper  men  when  he  said,  speaking  for  the  Consti- 
tutionalists : 

WANTS  NO  WAE  WITH  UNITED  STATES 

"We  do  not  want  war  with  the  United  States  or  with 
any  other  foreign  nation,  but  particularly  do  we  wish  to 
be  at  peace  with  your  country. 

"Mexico  has  troubles  of  her  own  and  Mexico  can 
settle  her  own  troubles  if  given  a  little  more  time  for 
the  task.  Personally  I  believe  that  the  troubles  of  this 
nation  are  now  on  the  eve  of  settlement.  I  came  to 
Juarez  for  the  purpose  of  meeting  my  good  American 
friends;  to  extend  to  them  the  hand  of  fellowship  and 
to  thank  them  for  the  great  interest  they  have  taken  in 
the  efforts  of  the  Constitutionalists  to  restore  peace  in 
my  unhappy  country. 

"I  do  not  want  war  with  the  United  States,  and  I  am 
sure  the  Government  and  people  of  the  United  States  do 
not  wish  to  war  upon  the  Constitutionalists.  We  have 
always  been  good  friends,  haven't  we!  You  may  rest 
assured  I  shall  do  all  within  my  power  to  avoid  any 
change  in  our  relationship. 

CALLS  HUEETA  DKUNKEN  ASS 

"Why,"  and  the  rebel  chief  smiled  broadly  as  he 
threw  an  arm  about  the  shoulder  of  Carothers,  "all 
Europe  would  laugh  at  us  if  we  went  to  war  with  you. 
The  other  countries  would  say — 'Ha!  that  drunken  little 
Huerta  has  drawn  them  into  a  tangle  at  last.' 

"Why  does  the  United  States  want  to  pay  any  atten- 
tion to  that  drunken  old  ass,  Huerta,  anyway  V9 


VILLA'S  PROTESTATIONS  OF  GOOD  WILL 


THE  AMERICAN"  CITIZEN  IN  MEXICO:  WHY,  HE  PREFERS 
ARMED  SOLDIERS  TO  WORDY  EXCHANGES. 


76        VILLA'S  PROTESTATIONS  OF  GOOD  WILL 

Villa  declared  that  lie  was  not  consulted  in  the  draft- 
ing of  the  Carranza  note  demanding  evacuation  of  Vera 


INVALIDED  HOME. 


Cruz.  The  message  referred  to,  Villa  declared,  was 
written  with  the  brain  of  a  Saxon  and  the  soul  of  a  Latin. 
When  pushed  for  an  opinion  as  to  president's  answer 
to  the  Carranza  note,  Villa  refused  to  comment. 


VILLA'S  PROTESTATIONS  OF  GOOD  WILL         77 

Villa,  while  guarded  in  his  statements,  made  evident 
a  belief  that  the  trouble  the  United  States  was  having 
with  Huerta  had  been  precipitated  through  artful 
scheming  by  American  special  interests,  but  that  the 
plans  of  the  schemers  had  gone  wrong,  since  they  had 
hoped  for  a  declaration  of  war  against  the  entire  Mexi- 
can people,  Constitutionalists '  forces  especially,  and  had 
no  sympathy  with  President  Wilson's  declaration  that 
he  had  no  quarrel  with  the  Constitutionalists. 

BLAMES  CAPITALIST  INFLUENCES 

Villa  added: 

"The  fact  is  that  war  spirit  and  action  is  being  fos- 
tered by  those  interests  in  Northern  Mexico  which  have 
suffered  to  some  extent  because  of  the  revolution.  They 
are  bitterly  disappointed  that  the  animus  of  the  Ameri- 
can campaign  is  plainly  directed  against  Huerta  alone. 

"You  will  observe  that  there  is  clamor  in  certain 
newspapers  of  your  country  against  the  idea  that  an 
American  flag  once  raised  in  Mexico  can  ever  be  pulled 
down.  These  people  are  trying  to  make  out  that  if  the 
United  States  achieves  its  object  in  punishing  Huerta 's 
insolence,  it  cannot  retreat  from  the  territory  of  Mexico, 
but  must  forever  remain  there.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
there  is  no  reason  why  the  United  States  having  fulfilled 
its  mission,  which  is,  I  understand,  to  secure  redress  for 
an  insult  to  the  American  flag,  cannot  withdraw  its  troops 
and  sailors  and  leave  Mexico  to  settle  her  own  affairs, 
which  she  is  quite  capable  of  doing.  I  do  not  believe  that 
the  effort  to  embroil  Northern  Mexico  will  succeed.' ' 

WHAT   WAS   HIS    MISSION? 

The  actual  purpose  of  Villa's  sudden  trip  to  Juarez 
became  at  once  a  matter  of  wide  speculation  in  Govern- 


78         VILLA'S  PROTESTATIONS  OF  GOOD  WILL 

mental  as  well  as  in  army  circles.  It  was  considered 
entirely  unlikely  that  the  journey  from  Chihuahua  had 
been  undertaken,  as  Villa  said,  for  the  sole  purpose  of 
conveying  in  person  his  good  wishes  to  the  American 
people.  It  was  broadly  hinted  that  the  real  purpose  was 
to  prepare  the  way  by  personal  instruction  to  certain  of 
his  lieutenants  in  Juarez  for  the  possible  eventuality  of 
an  attack  on  El  Paso. 

For  this  reason  Villa  was  watched  closely  by  Ameri- 
can secret  service  men  during  the  entire  time  that  he 
remained  in  Juarez  and  every  audience  he  gave  was 
known. 

The  statements  of  Villa  with  regard  to  efforts  of  capi- 
talists in  Northern  Mexico  to  drag  the  United  States  into 
a  campaign  of  conquest  there,  were  echoed  by  certain 
statesmen  in  Washington,  who  were  most  fervent  in 
their  support  of  President  Wilson's  determination  to 
confine  the  issue  to  Huertag,nd  his  machinations  against 
America  and  Americans. 


CHAPTER  VI 
THE  LIFE  STORY  OF  VILLA 

CALLED  BY  HIS  ENEMIES  A  BLOODTHIRSTY  BANDIT — FRIENDS 
INSIST  HE  IS  A  MODERN  ROBIN  HOOD,  FORCED  INTO  OUT- 
LAWRY— A  PRICE  ON  HIS  HEAD  SET  BY  DIAZ — KILLED  HIS 
SISTER  *S  BETRAYER  AND  WAS  COMPELLED  TO  TAKE  TO 
HILLS  AS  A  RESULT HOW  HE  SECURED  MILITARY  RECOG- 
NITION. 

"T^ANCHO"  VILLA,  according  to  his  enemies,  the 

most    bloodthirsty,    revengeful    and    barbarian 

chieftain    imaginable,    "half    Indian    and    half 

beast,"  a  creature  to  be  viewed  only  with  detestation  and 

repulsion,  is  a  remarkable  character. 

To  his  friends,  however,  he  is  a  man  driven  to  a 
Robin  Hood  life  by  a  regime  of  tyranny,  forced  to  wild 
acts  of  outlawry  in  self-preservation,  a  being  at  heart 
most  gentle  and  humane,  and  become  by  the  strange 
vicissitudes  of  Mexico  the  victorious  general  who  may  in 
a  month  or  two  march  into  Mexico  City,  triumphant,  at 
the  head  of  his  unkempt  troops. 

COMES  OF  GOOD  FAMILY 

All  accounts  of  Villa  start  with  his  first  slaying. 
Before  that  he  is  only  known  as  a  six  foot  scion  of  one  of 
the  best  families  in  Northern  Mexico,  proud,  haughty, 
athletic,  a  dead  shot,  and  a  born  leader. 

79 


80  THE  LIFE  STORY  OF  VILLA 

He  was  left  the  guardian  of  his  sister,  a  dark-eyed 
beauty,  on  the  death  of  his  father.  A  jefe  politico,  or 
high  sheriff,  who  lived  near  the  Villa  ranch,  eloped  with 
the  girl  who  had  been  left  in  Pancho  's  care.  There  was 
no  marriage,  whether  by  the  girl's  acquiescence  or  not, 
history  is  silent.  But  Pancho  decided  the  stain  on  the 
'scutcheon  could  only  be  removed  by  the  death  of  the 
sheriff. 

Mounting  his  swiftest  horse,  he  galloped  after  the 
elopers,  caught  them  and  arranged  their  marriage.  Then 
he  forced  his  brother-in-law  to  sign  his  own  death  war- 
rant, dig  his  own  grave  and  lie  down  on  the  mound  at 
the  side  of  it.  He  deliberately  shot  the  bridegroom  and 
rolled  the  body  into  the  pit,  which  he  then  filled  with 
earth.  What  the  sister  was  doing  during  these  pro- 
ceedings is  not  chronicled. 

DIAZ  SETS  PRICE  ON  HIS  HEAL 

The  father  of  the  dead  sheriff  rode  out  to  the  Villa 
ranch  and  was  shot  as  he  knocked  at  the  door.  Then 
Pancho  fled  into  the  hills  and  a  price  was  placed  upon 
his  head  by  Porfirio  Diaz. 

That's  the  way  the  story  is  usually  told.  But  others 
say  there  was  one  day  a  row  in  an  adobe  hut  patronized 
by  the  gamblers  of  Chihuahua,  and  an  army  officer  was 
shot  dead.  The  assailant  escaped  to  the  hills  and  became 
" Pancho  the  Bandit,"  the  terror  of  Northern  Mexico. 

All  through  his  life  this  double  version  runs. 
Eecently  there  came  a  story  of  his  capturing  a  woman 
and  marrying  her  by  force.  Then,  it  was  related,  she 
fell  in  love  with  her  savage  husband  and  was  content  to 
follow  him  in  his  campaigns.    This  tale  may  be  true — 


THE  LIFE  STORY  OF  VILLA 


81 


VILLA:     "HONOR  WHERE  HONOR  IS  DUE.' 


82  THE  LIFE  STORY  OF  VILLA 

and  then  again  it  may  not  be  true,  as  others  say,  that  he  is 
most  faithful  to  the  girl  of  the  people  he  married  in  San 
Andreas  four  years  ago. 

HOW  VILLA  BECAME  A  BANDIT 

To  lead  up  to  this  earlier  and  more  authenticated 
marriage  it  is  necessary  to  go  back  a  bit.  When  he  fled 
after  his  first  slaying  he  gathered  about  himself  a  body 
of  wild  men  of  the  mountains,  outlaws  like  himself.  Far 
and  wide  he  pillaged  the  estates  of  the  Diaz  adherents. 
Some  say  he  exercised  little  discrimination  in  his  takings. 
At  any  rate,  by  1910  he  had  gained  the  dignity  of  head 
of  an  irregular  army,  with  which  he  marched  from  his 
mountain  principality  to  San  Andreas,  about  thirty-five 
miles  west  of  the  City  of  Chihuahua.  There  he  made  his 
headquarters  and  married.  He  provided  tutors  for  his 
girl  wife  so  that  she  might  gain  the  schooling  of  which 
she  had  been  deprived.  He  himself  took  advantage  of 
the  opportunity  to  study  and,  among  other  things,  is 
said  to  have  at  this  time  gained  his  fair  knowledge  of 
English. 

This  agrees  with  the  picture  of  the  Villa  who  recently 
was  much  impressed  by  the  lessons  in  international  law 
he  chanced  to  receive  arid  who  announced  he  would  imme- 
diately substitute  these  principles  for  his  former  less 
merciful  code. 

EEABED  IN  MEXICO  CITY 

But  those  who  see  the  darker  side  say  that  Huerta  is 
a  saint  compared  to  Villa  and  that  every  decent-minded 
citizen  in  Mexico  shudders  at  the  thought  of  the  outlaw 
of  the  Chihuahua  mountains  in  the  National  Palace  of 
Mexico  City. 


THE  LIFE  STORY  OF  VILLA 


83 


mm . 


DREAMING  OF  HOME. 


84  THE  LIFE  STORY  OF  VILLA 

Madero  commissioned  the  bandit  a  colonel,  and  thus 
made  it  possible  for  Villa  to  enter  Chihuahua,  which  he 
had  left  a  murderer  ten  years  ago,  as  a  conqueror. 

Villa's  fierce  nature  and  his  wild  jealousy  made  him 
a  difficult  man  for  Madero  to  handle.  His  two  rivals 
were  Pascual  Orozco  and  Garibaldi,  the  grandson  of  the 
Italian  liberator. 

In  the  battles  near  Ahumada  and  Casas  Grandes, 
engagements  which  were  to  complete  the  triumph  of 
Madero,  "Pancho  the  Tiger,"  as  they  then  called  Villa, 
fought  like  the  beast  whose  name  had  been  given  to  him. 
He  was  inspired  by  desire  for  vengeance  against  Diaz, 
declare  some,  not  by  love  of  country  or  his  fellow  man. 
"Who  can  say? 

IS  A  SAVAGE  ENEMY 

In  the  capture  of  Juarez  by  Madero,  Villa  did  most  of 
the  fighting  and  the  other  two  lieutenants  got  most  of 
the  credit  in  the  newspapers.  That  is  the  way  Villa  is 
said  to  have  figured.  He  came  over  to  El  Paso  to  kill 
Garibaldi  on  American  soil  one  Sunday  afternoon. 
There  are  different  versions  of  what  happened — but  the 
truth  seems  to  be  that  the  United  States  army  officers 
saved  the  young  Italian  from  his  savage  enemy. 

During  most  of  the  Madero  regime,  Pancho  led  an 
existence  so  peaceful  it  must  have  seemed  strange  to  him. 
Then  ^ve  or  six  months  later  he  began  to  loom  large 
again.  He  was  now  no  longer  the  bandit,  he  was  ' '  Gen- 
eral Villa,"  at  the  head  of  several  thousand  men,  cap- 
turing city  after  city,  wresting  from  the  merchants  and 
mine  owners  millions  of  dollars  and  winning  battles  by 
the  very  terror  of  his  name. 


THE  LIFE  STORY  OF  VILLA  85 

THE  SECOND  CAPTURE  OF  JUAREZ 

His  greatest  feat  was  his  second  capture  of  the  City 
of  Juarez.  Betreating  northward  from  Torreon, 
hemmed  between  two  forces  of  Federals,  he  met  and  cap- 
tured a  southbound  Federal  troop  train.  Almost 
instantly  he  had  seized  the  nearest  telegraph  station  and 
sent  a  message  back  to  Juarez,  from  which  the  train  had 
come,  signed  with  the  name  of  the  Federal  officers  in 
charge  of  the  train.  The  Federal  officer  (per  Villa) 
reported  his  way  barred  by  rebels  and  declared  he  must 
hurry  back  to  Juarez.  Then  Villa  loaded  1,500  troops 
on  the  train  and  started  for  Juarez.  The  train  would 
stop  a  little  way  from  each  station  and  a  picked  squad 
would  go  forward  and  seize  the  telegraph  operators.  In 
this  way  he  proceeded  all  the  way  to  Juarez  undetected, 
ran  into  the  middle  of  the  city  in  the  night,  and  put  the 
Federals  to  flight  by  surprise. 


WAY  ELECTIONS  HAVE  BEEN  RUN  IN  MEXICO. 


CHAPTER  VII 
GENERAL  VENUSTIANO  CARRANZA 

ONE  OF  THE  MOST  VIGOKOUS  OPPONENTS  OF  DIAZ  AND  A  STERN 
FIGHTER  FOR  CONSTITUTIONAL  RIGHTS A  STERN,  UNCOM- 
PROMISING SPANISH  GENTLEMAN  WHO  CALLS  HUERTA  A 
MURDERER  AND  DECLARES  HE  WILL  NEVER  REST  UNTIL  THE 
DICTATOR  HAS  BEEN  DRIVEN  FROM  MEXICO  OR  KILLED. 

GENERAL  VENUSTIANO    CARRANZA,   leader 
of  the  Constitutionalists,  was  the  first  governor 
to  bid  defiance  to  Huerta  and  start  the  armed 
revolt  that  quickly  spread  throughout  Northern  Mexico 
against  the  regime  of  Gen.  Victoriano  Huerta. 

Carranza  was  born  in  the  town  of  Cuatro  Cienegas, 
state  of  Coahuila,  of  one  of  the  old  families  that  boast 
pure  Spanish  descent.  The  Carranzas  have  been  exten- 
sive landowners  for  generations,  and  Don  Venustiano 
was  given  the  education  of  a  gentleman  in  the  schools  of 
Northern  Mexico.  He  raised  cattle  and  wheat  and,  after 
the  discovery  that  rubber  could  be  extracted  from  the 
wild  guayule  shrub,  he  has  been  also  a  rubber  producer. 
His  personal  fortune  was  once  estimated  at  a  million 
pesos — in  United  States  money  five  hundred  thousand 
dollars. 

UNDERTOOK  TO  SMASH  DIAZ 

Carranza  went  to  Mexico  City  as  senator  from 
Coahuila  and  remained  there  ten  or  fifteen  years  despite 

87 


88  GENERAL  VENUSTIANO  CARRANZA 

his  independence  of  the  Diaz  political  machine.  Instead 
of  becoming  subservient,  Senator  Carranza  undertook  to 
smash  the  Diaz  ring.  Carranza  ran  for  the  governor- 
ship himself  against  the  Diaz-Beyes  candidate. 

It  was  this  campaign  of  Carranza 's  which  first 
enlisted  Francisco  I  Madero  in  active  politics.  Madero 
made  speeches  for  Carranza  and  contributed  to  his 
expenses,  only  to  see  Carranza  meet  the  fate  of  all  oppo- 
sition candidates  under  the  Diaz  system — he  was  counted 
out.  The  young,  idealistic  Madero,  seeing  how  the 
system  operated,  plunged  then  heart  and  head  into  the 
campaign  for  electoral  reform,  which  led  to  the  revolu- 
tion against  Diaz.  Francisco  I  Madero  said,  just  after 
the  success  of  his  revolution,  that  to  the  example  of  Car- 
ranza, and  to  his  ideals  in  politics,  he  owed  the  inspira- 
tion that  led  him  into  taking  up  the  sword  against  the 
dictator,  Diaz. 


CARRANZA  A  TOTAL  ABSTAINER 

Carranza  himself  is  a  stern,  uncompromising  Spanish 
gentleman,  with  the  simple  habits  of  the  plainsman;  a 
total  abstainer  from  liquor  and  tobacco,  and  a  disciplina- 
rian in  big  as  well  as  in  these  little  things.  His 
tall,  wiry  figure — he  is  more  than  six  feet  high — 
is  set  up  like  a  soldier's,  and  a  long,  gray  beard 
below  his  smooth-shaven,  sun-burned  cheeks  accentuates 
the  dominating,  patriarchal  type  of  man  that  he  is. 

A  good  idea  of  the  man  and  his  aims  is  obtained  from 
an  interview  which  the  correspondent  of  the  London 
Times  had  with  him  in  the  field,  before  the  elections  of 
October  26th.    In  this  interview  he  said : 


GENERAL  VENUSTIANO  CARRANZA      89 

IS    CHIEF    OF    REVOLUTION 

uIam  the  only  leader  recognized  as  supreme  by  all 
the  chiefs  of  the  revolution.  What  we  fight  for  is  the 
Constitution  of  our  country  and  the  development  of  our 
people.  Huerta  outraged  the  Constitution  when  he  over- 
threw and  murdered  President  Madero.  He  continues 
to  outrage  it  by  attempting  to  govern  despotically  as 
Diaz  did,  and  refusing  to  administer  fairly  the  laws, 
which  are  equal  for  all.  This  revolution  cannot  cease 
until  either  we,  the  Constitutionalists,  triumph,  or  until 
Huerta  triumphs  completely  over  us.  Even  in  the  latter 
case  it  would  only  cease  for  the  moment,  for  the  revolu- 
tion has  its  roots  in  social  causes. 

"The  land,  which  was  formerly  divided  among  the 
mass  of  the  people,  has  been  seized  by  a  few.  The  owners 
of  it  compel  those  who  are  working  for  them  to  buy  the 
necessities  of  life  from  them  alone.  They  lay  a  burden 
of  debt  upon  the  poor  people  and  make  them  virtually 
slaves,  for  so  long  as  the  poor  people  owe  them  money 
they  cannot  go  away.    If  they  try  to  go  away,  they  can 

be  brought  back.    They  can  be  put  in  prison. 

» 

GROWTH  OF  A  MIDDLE  CLASS 

"Another  contributing  cause  of  the  revolution  is  the 
growth  of  a  middle  class.  Formerly  there  were  only  the 
rich  and  the  poor.  Now  there  is  a  class  in  between  which 
does  not  like  to  see  the  poor  oppressed,  which  knows 
what  democracy  and  social  reform  mean  in  other  coun- 
tries, and  which  is  resolved  to  take  successive  steps  for- 
ward to  complete  self-government. 

"The  first  necessity  is  the  fair  and  free  election  of  a 


90      GENERAL  YENUSTIANO  CARRANZA 

president.  In  the  disturbed  state  of  the  country,  how- 
ever, it  is  of  course  impossible  to  hold  a  proper  election. 
Large  numbers  of  voters  would  never  hear  of  it  if  such 
an  election  were  attempted.  The  Constitutionalists 
refuse  to  recognize  any  president  who  may  bew  returned 
as  the  result  of  any  election  which  is  held  under  circum- 
stances at  all  open  to  suspicion  of  fraud.  It  is  the 
announced  intention  to  execute  all  persons  who  are  found 
guilty  of  either  assisting  in  fraudulent  election  efforts 
or  attempts  to  recognize  any  fraudulently  elected  presi- 
dent." 

SHOCKED  THE   CORRESPONDENT 

The  correspondent,  in  writing  his  impressions,  said: 
' '  To  hear  this  amiable,  scholarly  old  gentleman  define 
so  bloodthirsty  a  policy  and,  what  appeared  to  me,  so 
unreasonable  a  line  of  action,  made  me  feel  as  though 
I  were  dreaming.  It  threw  a  strange  light  on  Carranza's 
professed  belief  in  democracy.  Yet  I  have  no  doubt  that 
he  sincerely  believes  himself  a  subscriber  to  that  creed. 
But  the  discrepancy  between  his  professions  and  his 
policy  shows  how  far  the  mentality  of  Mexico  is  distant 
from  that  of  Europe  and  the  United  States." 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  WAR  OF  1848 

SOMETHING  OF  PAST  CAMPAIGNS  IN  MEXICO THE  TWO  YEARS ' 

WAR  OF   1848  WHICH  GAVE  TO  THE  UNITED  STATES  CALI-i 
FORNIA,     NEVADA,     UTAH,    ARIZONA    AND    PARTS     OF     NEW 

MEXICO    AND    COLORADO THE    FRENCH    OCCUPATION    AND 

THE    MONROE   DOCTRINE — HOW    CORTEZ    ORIGINALLY    CON- 
QUERED THE  COUNTRY. 

THERE  is  no  disputing  the  fact  that  the  present 
Mexican  imbroglio,  in  so  far  as  its  relation  to  the 
United  States  is  concerned,  grows  naturally  out 
of  the  progress  of  the  latter  country  and  the  retrogres- 
sion of  the  former. 

Dispute  over  the  Texas  boundary  line  plunged  the 
United  States  and  Mexico  into  the  two  years'  war  of 
1848,  which  took  from  Mexico  and  gave  to  the  United 
States  the  state  of  California,  Nevada,  Utah,  Arizona 
and  parts  of  New  Mexico  and  Colorado.  It  also  settled 
absolutely  the  ultimate  annexation  of  Texas  to  the  Union. 
The  fall  of  Chapultepec  ended  this  war. 

The  United  States  was  so  near  war  with  Mexico  in 
1866  that  Gen.  Phil  Sheridan  was  ordered  from  Wash- 
ington on  the  eve  of  the  grand  review  of  Civil  war  vet- 
erans, and  50,000  men  under  him  were  concentrated  on 
the  Mexican  border. 

91 


92 


THE  WAR  OF  1848 


OBEY  ORDERS 
WKEEPYER 

GUN  CLEAN 
SONNY  ! ! 


BOIiVOUR  DRINKING 
WATER  AND  SHOOT 

LOW. MY  BOY!! 


«»  & 


THREE  GENERATIONS. 


THE  AVAR  OF  1848  93 

FRENCH  OCCUPATION  CAUSED  TROUBLE 

The  occupation  of  Mexico  by  the  French  in  violation 
of  the  Monroe  doctrine  and  the  efforts  of  Napoleon  III 
to  establish  a  throne  in  Mexico  City,  were  circumstances 
that  brought  Sheridan  and  his  men  to  the  Mexican  bor- 
der before  the  Union  army  had  been  formally  disbanded. 

Appearance  of  the  United  States  troops  caused 
Napoleon  to  withdraw  his  support  from  Maximilian. 
The  French  troops  evacuated  Mexico  and  the  clouds 
cleared  away.  Maximilian  was  executed  by  Mexican 
republicans  May  14,  1867.  Empress  Carlotta,  his  wife, 
is  hopelessly  insane  in  a  Belgian  hospital. 

The  situation  is  plain  to  minds  gifted  with  logic  that 
Nature  will  not  tolerate  conditions  such  as  has  existed  on 
the  Mexican  side  of  the  boundary  line  when  the  develop- 
ment of  exactly  similar  territory  under  another  flag  and 
a  superior  civilization  has  proved  the  artificiality  of 
Mexican  troubles. 

MEXICANS  ARE  ENSLAVED 

One  side  of  the  Eio  Grande  offered  peace  and  pros- 
perity. The  other  meant  an  enslaved  existence  which 
had  failed  to  commend  itself  even  to  the  ignorant  Mexican 
farm  laborer.  For  many  years  the  present  interference 
of  the  United  States  to  save  the  Mexican  from  himself 
had  been  regarded  as  certain.  James  Bryce,  British 
ambassador  to  the  United  States  preceding  the  present 
incumbent,  commented  on  the  ultimate  destiny  of  Mexico, 
in  one  of  his  books  on  the  American  people,  as  an 
integral  part  of  the  American  Union. 

The  idea  of  conquest  is  repulsive  to  the  American 


•94  THE  WAR  OF  1848 

mind.  It  was  the  belief  of  the  average  American  that  the 
United  States  had  foreign  problems  enough  on  its  hands 
in  Cuba,  Puerto  Rico  and  the  Philippines,  and  that  to 
add  to  the  complications  already  existing  through 
Japan's  attitude  on  the  issue  of  land  ownership  in  Cali- 
fornia, was  merely  courting  disaster.  At  the  same  time  it 
was  the  determination  of  the  man  in  the  street  to  support 
those  in  authority  for  him  in  whatever  undertaking  they 
might  believe  necessary  to  the  honor  and  well-being  of  the 
country. 

The  investment  of  Vera  Cruz  by  the  American  forces 
under  Admiral  Badger  gave  new  interest  to  the  story 
of  the  investment  by  Cortez  and  subsequent  subjugation 
of  Mexico  by  the  Spaniards  under  his  command. 

THE  ORIGINAL  CONQUEROR 

Fernando  Cortez,  the  original  conqueror  of  Mexico, 
was  born  in  Medillin,  Spain,  in  1485,  and  he  died  on 
December  2, 1547.  He  was  educated  for  the  law,  but  dis- 
dained its  practice  and  early  in  life  entered  the  military 
service  of  his  country. 

At  the  age  of  nineteen  he  went  on  a  journey  to  San 
Domingo,  and  there  joined  Velasquez,  with  whom  he  won 
distinguished  honors  in  the  expedition  against  Cuba. 
Velasquez  was  governor  of  Cuba  and  he  intrusted  the 
conquest  of  Mexico  to  Cortez  in  1518.  Soon  afterwards 
Velasquez  sought  to  revoke  this  commission,  fearing,  it 
is  said,  the  bravery  and  ability  of  the  young  warrior. 

THE   BATTLE    OF    TABASCO 

Cortez,  however,  retained  his  command  and  pushed 
the  enterprise  against  Mexico,  against  the  wishes   of 


THE  WAR  OF  1848  95 

Velasquez.  He  started  with  eighteen  horses,  ten  cannon, 
seven  hundred  Spaniards  and  eleven  vessels,  to  bring 
about  the  subjugation  of  the  country.  Soon  after  land- 
ing he  fought  the  battle  of  Tabasco  and  captured  Donna 
Marina,  who  became  his  interpreter  with  the  Mexicans. 
Those  of  the  Cortez  army  who  were  friendly  to 
Velasquez  wanted  to  turn  back,  but  he  won  the  leaders 
by  promising  them  success  for  their  efforts.  He  burned 
his  ships  in  order  that  the  others  might  be  induced  to 
fight  with  greater  bravery  since  no  retreat  was  possible. 
Cortez  founded  Vera  Cruz,  where  the  first  gun  of  the 
1914  invasion  was  fired,  and  then  marched  to  Tlascala, 
which  he  conquered.  Taking  several  thousand  Tlacalans 
as  allies  he  started  for  the  City  of  Mexico,  reaching  the 
capital  on  November  8,  1519.  At  that  time  Mexico  City 
had  a  population  of  300,000  people  and  had  become  world 
famous  by  reason  of  its  fine  buildings,  castles,  bridges 
and  aqueducts. 

PUT  THE  KING  IN  IKONS 

Montezuma,  the  Mexican  monarch,  was  friendly  to 
the  Spaniards,  but  a  week  after  Cortez  arrived  the  king 
was  placed  in  irons  and  conveyed  to  Spanish  headquar- 
ters. The  Mexicans  organized  to  repel  the  invaders  by 
placing  the  brother  of  Montezuma  in  command.  Armed 
engagements  began  soon  after  and  within  a  period  of 
about  a  year  100,000  Mexicans  were  slain  and  the  coun- 
try was  finally  subjugated. 

Cortez  returned  to  Spain  in  1528  and  was  made 
captain-general,  but  was  not  given  the  position  of  gov- 
ernor of  New  Spain  as  Mexico  was  then  known.  The 
governorship  fell  into  the  hands  of  a  weak  ruler,  much 


96 


THE  "WAR  OF  1848 


to  the  disappointment  of  Cortez.  After  he  had  been 
refused  to  the  command  of  the  army  with  which  he  sought 
to  conquer  Algeria,  Cortez  accompanied  Charles  V  in 
the  expedition  against  that  country. 

On  returning  to  Spain  in  1540  Cortez  reported  the 
discovery  of  the  Peninsula  of  California.  He  then 
entered  private  life  and  spent  the  remainder  of  his  days 
in  solitude.  Cortez  ranked  as  a  man  of  deep  religious 
faith,  a  cruel  administrator  and  a  great  soldier. 


NO  MONEY  TO  MOVE  HIS  CROP 


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CIGARETTE  FACTORY  IN  MEXICO. 


CHAPTER  IX 
THE  AMERICAN  FIGHTING  FORCES 

THE  UNITED  STATES  MARINE  COKPS ITS  "USES  IN  THE  OPEN- 
ING OF  CAMPAIGNS GKEAT  BRITAIN  ONLY  OTHER  COUNTRY 

WHICH  HAS  MARINES WHY  EVERY  ABLE  BODIED  MAN  IN 

THE  UNITED  STATES  IS  LIABLE  FOR  MILITARY  SERVICE — i 
DICK  LAW  IS  FOR  ALL  PRACTICAL  PURPOSES  A  CONSCRIPTION 
ACT. 

THE  United  States  and  Great  Britain  are  the  only 
two  world  powers  who  nse  the  marine  corps.    The 
United  States  Marine  Corps  is  modeled  after  that 
of  Great  Britain. 

Away  back,  centuries  ago,  all  sea  fighting  was  done 
by  soldiers,  bowmen  and  spearmen.  The  sailors  looked 
to  the  navigation  of  the  ships.  It  was  so  even  in  the  days 
of  the  sailing  vessels. 

In  1653  Admiral  Blake  founded  the  British  Marine 
Corps  by  enlisting  soldiers  to  act  as  riflemen  in  his  action 
against  Van  Tromp.  The  British  Marine  Corps  was 
abolished  and  reorganized  time  and  again. 

England's  lead  followed 

Then  England,  following  her  press  gang  system, 
enlisted  and  conscripted  men,  spawn  of  the  gutters  of 
Portsmouth  and  London  and  Gravesend.    These  men  did 

113 


114  THE  AMERICAN  FIGHTING  FORCES 

not  want  to  sail  in  the  ships.  They  were  bad  men,  with 
an  impatience  of  authority.    They  were  unruly. 

The  Government  then  organized  the  marine  corps 
again  to  act  as  police  over  these  men.  They  did  their 
work  so  well  that  they  earned  the  title  of  "Boyal 
Marines' '  and  the  undying  hatred  of  British  sailors. 

In  June,  1776,  the  Continental  Congress,  by  an  act, 
founded  the  United  States  Marine  Corps  under  the  com- 
mand of  one  major,  Samuel  Nichols,  nine  captains,  ten 
first  lieutenants  and  seven  second  lieutenants.  This  force 
gained  laurels  in  the  naval  and  coast  actions  in  the 
Revolutionary  war. 

At  the  close  of  the  war  the  marine  corps  died,  prob- 
ably of  inertia.  In  the  War  of  1812  the  urgent  need  of 
sea  soldiers  drew  the  marine  corps  together  again  as 
if  by  magic,  and  in  the  terrific  fighting  of  the  lakes,  in 
New  Orleans,  in  all  of  the  coast  battles,  this  branch  of 
the  service  bore  the  brunt  of  the  fighting  and  impressed 
the  need  of  this  kind  of  body  on  the  people  of  the 
country. 

WITH  BAINBEIDGE  I3ST  TKIPOLI 

With  Bainbridge  in  the  war  with  Tripoli  went  a  full 
quota  of  this  marine  'corps.  They  did  the  heavy  fighting 
with  the  Beys  and  brought  victory  to  the  American  arms. 
Again,  when  Japan  insulted  the  United  States,  a  cordon 
of  these  sailor  soldiers  brought  the  apology  and  atone- 
ment. 

In  the  Civil  war  the  marine  corps  rendered  service 
in  the  blockading  fleets  and  in  battle,  like  Fort  Fisher 
and  other  coast  actions.  But  their  original  purpose,  that 
of  policing  the  ships  and  the  sailors  against  both  attack 


THE  AMERICAN  FIGHTING  FORCES  115 


I'LL  FIGHT  IF  I  HAVE  TO,  AND  IF  I  DO,  LOOK  OUT. 


116  THE  ifMERICAN  FIGHTING  FORCES 

from  the  enmity  and  mutiny  on  board,  had  almost  passed. 
They  were  still  a  bulwark  of  defense,  but  their  police 
work  had  been  usurped  by  the  sailors  themselves. 

With  the  coming  of  the  heavy  guns,  the  usefulness  of 
the  marine  in  sea  actions  was  discounted.  When  two 
fleets  engage  in  action  now,  they  fight  at  five  miles'  dis- 
tance, throwing  tons  of  projectiles  aimed  by  geometric 
inventions. 

MAKINES  GUAKD  NAVAL  STATION'S 

So  in  times  of  peace  the  United  States  Marine  Corps 
was  relegated  to  the  job  of  guarding  naval  stations  and 
naval  bases. 

In  1908  President  Eoosevelt,  as  commander-in-chief 
of  the  United  States  army  and  navy,  removed  the  United 
States  Marine  Corps  from  the  complement  of  our  battle- 
ships and  set  them  to  policing  naval  bases  and  naval 
stations  beyond  the  continental  limits  of  the  United 
States  and  to  guarding  the  Panama  Canal  Zone. 

And  the  marines  were  called  back  to  their  job  in 
the  Mexican  crisis — 5,000  of  them  were  soon  on  the  spot 
and  3,000  more  were  ordered  to  hold  themselves  in  readi- 
ness to  embark  for  Tampico  and  Mexico. 

GENEKAL   KAENETT   IE"    COMMAND 

Ma j. -Gen.  George  Barnett  succeeded  Ma j. -Gen.  Biddle 
as  commandant  of  marines. 

General  Barnett,  who,  was  in  command  of  a  brigade 
of  2,000  marines,  was  recalled  to  Washington  upon 
the  retirement  of  General  Biddle  in  order  that  he  might 
assume  the  duties  of  commandant  of  marines.     He  left 


THE  AMERICAN  FIGHTING  FORCES  117 

in  his  place  Col.  John  A.  Lajaune,  who  took  a  large 
detachment  of  marines,  consisting  of  about  eight  hun- 
dred men,  to  New  Orleans,  where  they  remained  in 
camp  awaiting  orders  from  the  secretary  of  the  navy. 
These  men,  under  Colonel  Lajuane,  were  embarked  upon 
the  Hancock  at  New  Orleans  for  service  in  Mexico. 

EVEKY  MAN  LIABLE  TO  CALL 

In  case  of  war  every  able-bodied  male  citizen  of  the 
United  States  between  the  ages  of  eighteen  and  forty- 
five  is  liable  to  be  called  into  the  service  of  the  United 
States  for  war  purposes. 

About  twenty-two  million  men,  constituting  a  little 
over  43  per  cent  of  the  total  male  population  of  this 
country,  are  interested  in  this  statement. 

An  act  of  Congress,  approved  January  21,  1903,  and 
amended  in  1908,  commonly  known  as  the  "Dick  militia 
law,"  makes  it  possible  for  the  president  to  call  into  the 
service  of  the  United  States  not  only  the  regularly  organ- 
ized militia  of  the  various  states,  but  also  the  so-called 
"reserve  militia,,,  which  constitutes  all  citizens  between 
eighteen  and  forty-five. 

Section  4  of  this  law  provides  that  "whenever  the 
United  States  is  invaded  or  in  danger  of  invasion  from 
any  foreign  nation"  or  in  other  contingencies  named, 
"it  shall  be  lawful  for  the  president  to  call  forth  such 
number  of  the  militia  of  the  state  or  of  the  states  or 
territories,  or  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  as  he  may 
deem  necessary." 

DUBING   THE    PBESIDENT's    PLEASUKE 

Furthermore,  it  is  provided  that  when  the  president 
calls  out  the  militia  for  such  purposes,  "he  may  specify 


118  THE  AMERICAN  FIGHTING  FORCES 

the  period  for  which  such  service  is  required,  and  the 
militia  so  called  shall  continue  to  serve  during  the  term  so 
specified,  either  within  or  without  the  territory  of  the 
United  States,  unless  sooner  relieved  by  order  of  the 
president. ' ' 

The  use  of  the  language  "either  within  or  without 
the  territory  of  the  United  States"  shows  that  it  is  only 
necessary  for  the  president  to  decide  that  there  is  a  pos- 
sibility of  danger  from  invasion. 

Although  workingmen's  organizations  made  some 
protest  against  the  passage  of  the  Dick  law  at  the  time 
and  although  it  has  been  roundly  denounced  since  on 
account  of  the  use  of  militiamen  in  strikes  and  labor 
troubles,  the  far-reaching  character  of  the  law  has  not 
been  realized  by  the  public  generally. 

It  will  be  surprising  to  the  ordinary  man  in  the  street 
to  know,  therefore,  that  he  may  be  summoned  at  a 
moment's  notice  to  join  the  militia;  that  he  is,  in  fact, 
already  a  reserve  militiaman  and  as  such  subject  to 
immediate  call  by  the  president  for  service  either  within 
or  without  the  territory  of  the  United  States ! 

Not  only  that,  but  section  7  provides  drastic  penalties 
for  failure  to  obey  such  summons.  After  providing  that 
members  of  the  militia,  when  called  out  by  the  president, 
shall  be  mustered  into  the  service  of  the  United  States 
and  shall  thus  become  regular  soldiers  "without  further 
enlistment  and  without  further  medical  examination 
previous  to  such  muster,' '  this  section  says  "that  any 
officer  or  enlisted  man  of  the  militia  who  shall  refuse  or 
neglect  to  present  himself  for  such  muster,  upon  called 
forthwith  as  herein  prescribed,  shall  be  subject  to  trial 
by  court-martial  and  shall  be  punished  as  such  court- 
martial  may  direct." 


THE  AMERICAN  FIGHTING  FORCES  119 

LIABLE  TO  DEATH  SENTENCE 

In  time  of  war  the  punishment  could  thus  extend  to 
death. 

Section  9,  in  effect,  makes  regular  soldiers  of  the 
militiamen  when  thus  called  into  the  service  of  the 
United  States.  It  says  "that  the  militia,  when  called 
into  the  actual  service  of  the  United  States,  shall  be  sub- 
ject to  the  same  rules  and  articles  of  war  as  the  regular 
troops  of  the  United  States." 

Violation  of  the  articles  of  war  is  about  the  most 
serious  thing  that  could  happen  to  anybody.  Many  of 
the  penalties  prescribed  for  such  violations  call  for  death 
in  war  time  and  other  penalties  are  very  severe. 

There  is  another  act  of  Congress  entitled  "an  act  to 
provide  for  temporarily  increasing  the  military  estab- 
lishment of  the  United  States  in  time  of  war,"  the  act 
of  1908,  by  which  a  volunteer  army  could  be  raised.  But 
the  failure  of  men  to  volunteer  might  very  readily  be 
followed  by  the  enforced  enlistment  of  citizens  under  the 
Dick  militia  law  without  the  necessity  of  Congress  pass- 
ing a  special  act  authorizing  conscriptions.  The  Dick 
law  for  all  practical  purposes  is  itself  a  conscription  act. 


>:; 


.-:,.,; 


)?,V'Vli!l 


MEXICO,  A  CONTINUOUS  MOVING  PICTUKE  OF  EEVOLUTION. 


CHAPTER  X 
MEDIATION  OFFERED  AND  ACCEPTED 

ARGENTINA,  BRAZIL  AND  CHILI,  THE  A.  B.  C.  REPUBLICS,  OFFER 
MEDIATION PRESIDENT  WILSON  ACCEPTS  WITH  RESERVA- 
TIONS— HE  INSISTS  THAT  WHATEVER  MEDIATION  MAY 
RESULT  IN  HUERTA  MUST  GET  OUT — SENATOR  SHERMAN 
OF  ILLINOIS  DENOUNCES  THE  MEDIATION  PLAN. 

OFFERS  of  mediation  between  the  United  States 
and  Mexico  received  and  accepted  by  President 
Wilson  on   Saturday,  April  25,   1914,  led  to   a 
belief  in  administration  circles,  that  the  formal  declara- 
tion of  war  and  the  sending  of  an  army  into  Mexico 
might  still  be  averted. 

The  belief  was  not  shared  either  by  the  army  or  navy 
authorities,  and  it  was  made  plain  that  preparations 
for  the  concentration  of  a  large  military  force  on  the 
Mexican  border  would  proceed,  as  well  as  that  orders 
under  which  the  naval  forces  were  acting  would  not  be 
changed. 

OFFER  IS  SKILFULLY  PHRASED 

The  offer  of  mediation  between  the  United  States 
and  "  those  forces  representing  the  several  elements  of 
the  Mexican  people,"  came  from  ministers  plenipoten- 
tiary of  Argentina,  Brazil,  and  Chili,  the  signers  of  the 

121 


122    MEDIATION  OFFERED  AND  ACCEPTED 

document  addressed  to  Secretary  of  State  Bryan  being 
Romulo  S.  Naon,  the  Argentine  representative;  Domicio 
da  Gama,  the  Brazilian  representative,  and  Eduardo 
Suarez  Mujica,  the  Chilian  minister. 

These  were  commonly  called  the  A.  B.  C.  mediators. 

The  text  of  the  proffer  was  as  follows : 

THE  TEXT  OF  THE  PROPOSAL 

"With  the  purpose  of  subserving  the  interest  of 
peace  and  civilization  in  our  continent  and  with  the 
earnest  desire  to  prevent  any  further  bloodshed  to  the 
prejudice  of  the  cordiality  and  union  which  have  always 
surrounded  the  relations  of  the  governments  and  the 
people  of  America,  we,  the  plenipotentiaries  of  Brazil, 
Argentina,  and  Chile,  duly  authorized  hereto,  have  the 
honor  to  tender  to  your  Excellency's  government  our 
good  offices  for  the  peaceful  and  friendly  settlement  of 
the  conflict  between  the  United  States  and  Mexico. 

"This  offer  puts  in  due  form  the  suggestions  which 
we  have  had  occasion  to  offer  heretofore  on  this  subject 
to  the  secretary,  to  whom  we  renew  our  highest  and 
most  distinguished  consideration. 

"Domicio  Da  Gama,  Brazil. 

"Eomulo  S.  Naon,  Argentina. 

"Eduardo  Suarez  Mujica,  Chile." 

President  Wilson's  reply  in  acceptance  of  the  offer 
was  couched  in  the  following  language : 

"The  Government  of  the  United  States  is  deeply 
sensible  of  the  friendliness,  the  good  feeling,  and  the 
generous  concern  for  the  peace  and  welfare  of  America 
manifested  in  the  joint  note  just  received  from  your 


MEDIATION  OFFERED  AND  ACCEPTED  123 


MEXICO      J  I 

!iWUU|liMllllMI!il|:0||ltt/llltltt/fi;i^|ll*ia      | 

-^x>^  .1..  ,../  ' 


ft 


« 


'HOPE  SPRINGS  ETERNAL.' 


124         MEDIATION  OFFERED  AND  ACCEPTED 

excellencies  offering  the  good  offices  of  your  govern- 
ments to  effect  if  possible  a  settlement  of  the  present 
difficulty  between  the  Government  of  the  United  States 
and  those  who  now  claim  to  represent  our  sister  Republic 
of  Mexico. 

"Conscious  of  the  purpose  with  which  the  proffer 
is  made,  this  Government  does  not  feel  at  liberty  to 
decline  it. 

"Its  own  chief  interest  is  in  the  peace  of  America, 
the  cordial  intercourse  of  her  republics  and  their  people, 
and  the  happiness  and  prosperity  which  can  spring  only 
out  of  frank,  mutual  understanding  and  the  friendship 
which  is  created  by  common  purpose. 

"The  generous  offer  of  your  governments  is  there- 
fore accepted. 

"This  Government  hopes  most  earnestly  that  you 
may  find  those  who  speak  for  the  several  elements  of 
the  Mexican  people  willing  and  ready  to  discuss  terms 
of  satisfactory  and  therefore  permanent  settlement.  If 
you  should  find  them  willing,  this  government  will  be 
glad  to  take  up  with  you  for  discussion  in  the  frankest 
and  most  conciliatory  spirit  any  proposals  that  may  be 
authoritatively  formulated,  and  will  hope  that  they  may 
prove  feasible  and  prophetic  of  a  new  day  of  mutual 
co-operation  and  confidence  in  America. 

WAENS  OF  POSSIBLE  BKEAK 

"This  Government  feels  bound  in  candor  to  say  that 
its  diplomatic  relations  with  Mexico  being  for  the  present 
severed,  it  is  not  possible  for  it  to  make  sure  of  an 
uninterrupted  opportunity  to  carry  out  the  plan  of  inter- 
mediation which  you  propose. 


MEDIATION  OFFERED  AND  ACCEPTED  125 

"It  is,  of  course,  possible  that  some  act  of  aggression 
on  the  part  of  those  who  control  the  military  forces  of 
Mexico  might  oblige  the  United  States  to  act  to  the 
upsetting  of  the  hopes  of  immediate  peace,  but  this  does 
not  justify  us  in  hesitating  to  accept  your  generous 
suggestion. 

"We  shall  hope  for  the  best  results  within  a  brief 
time,  enough  to  relieve  our  anxiety  lest  most  ill  con- 
sidered hostile  demonstrations  should  interrupt  negotia- 
tions and  disappoint  our  hopes  of  peace.' ' 

The  note  of  acceptance  while  agreeing  to  the  sug- 
gestion reservedly  pointed  out  that  an  act  of  aggression 
by  the  military  forces  of  Mexico  or  hostile  demonstra- 
tions toward  Americans  might  upset  hopes  of  immediate 
peace. 

The  president  announced  that  he  had  accepted  media- 
tion for  the  following  reasons : 

1.  It  offered  a  hope  of  peace. 

2.  It  showed  the  world  that  we  were  sincere  in  the 
effort  to  avert  war. 

3.  It  might  modify  the  sentiment  of  South  America, 
hitherto  strongly  against  the  United  States,  even  if  no 
practical  results  came  from  it. 

4.  As  the  United  States  and  Mexico  were  both  signa- 
tories of  The  Hague  conventions,  it  was  incumbent  on 
this  Government  to  observe  the  terms  of  those  con- 
ventions. 

5.  It  was  imposed  upon  this  Government  by  the 
treaty  of  1848  between  the  United  States  and  Mexico, 
which  prescribed  that  in  case  of  any  difference  a  resort 
should  not  be  made  to  reprisals,  aggression,  or  hostility  of 
any  kind  without  recourse  to  arbitration  either  by  a  com- 
mission composed  of  citizens  of  both  countries  or  by  a 
friendly  power. 


126         MEDIATION  OFFERED  AND  ACCEPTED 

CONFEKENCE    AT    WHITE    HOUSE 

Prior  to  the  formal  acceptance  of  the  mediation  pro- 
posed there  was  a  conference  at  the  White  House 
between  the  president,  Secretary  of  State  Bryan, 
Senators  Stone  and  Shively,  democratic  members,  and 
Senator  Lodge,  republican  member,  respectively,  of  the 
Senate  Foreign  Relations  Committee,  and  Representa- 
tives Flood  and  Cooper  of  the  House  Foreign  Affairs 
Committee. 

At  this  conference  it  was  determined: 

1.  That  the  mediation  should  not  be  limited  to  Gen- 
eral Huerta,  but  should  be  extended  to  General  Carranza, 
General  Villa,  and  General  Zapata. 

2.  That,  as  a  condition  of  the  cessation  of  warlike 
measures  by  the  United  States : 

(A)  Huerta  should  be  required  to  resign. 

(B)  An  orderly  government  should  be  set  up. 

(C)  Peace  and  order  should  be  established  in 
Mexico. 

(D)  That  suitable  reparation  be  made  for  all  insults 
to  the  American  flag. 

SENATOK  SHEKMAN  OBJECTS 

Immediately  after  the  proposition  for  mediation 
became  known,  Senator  Sherman  of  Illinois  declared 
publicly  that  he  knew  the  sentiment  of  the  people  of 
the  United  States  to  be  opposed  to  any  form  of  mediation 
except  that  to  be  effected  by  sending  an  army  into  Mexico 
and  securing  proper  redress  for  the  insults  and  injuries 
suffered  there  by  the  American  nation  and  by  Americans 
as  individuals. 


MEDIATION  OFFERED  AND  ACCEPTED         127 

The  senator  said: 

"I  wouldn't  rebuff  these  ministers  who  have  made  the 
offer  of  mediation,  because  they  made  it  in  a  kindly 
spirit,  but  I  am  utterly  opposed  to  it. 

' l  The  only  mediation  I  favor  now  is  by  the  army  and 
navy  of  the  United  States,  with  a  notice  to  Huerta  that 
if  he  doesn't  respect  the  rights  of  all  nations  we  will 
send  down  half  a  million  men  and  all  the  warships  we 
have  and  all  we  can  build. 

"I  don't  believe  in  mediation.  I  believe  in  war,  now 
that  we  have  started  it.  I'll  vote  for  war  as  soon  as  it 
is  put  up  to  me. 

"  Huerta 's  act  in  refusing  to  permit  noncombatants 
to  leave  Mexico  is  the  act  of  a  savage,  and  he  should  be 
treated  like  a  savage. 

"Our  duty  is  to  protect  all  Americans  and  Europeans 
in  Mexico.    It  is  the  duty  of  the  administration  to  fight. 

"I  will  never  vote  for  the  acceptance  of  mediation. 
I  am  for  fight.  I  am  for  an  army  of  half  a  million  men. 
A  large  army  now  will  save  lives. 

"I  have  read  a  dispatch  that  the  Mexicans  refused  to 
permit  an  American  vessel  to  leave  port  until  a  British 
admiral  went  on  board  and  hoisted  the  British  flag. 
That's  a  pretty  thing  to  contemplate.  Think  of  an 
American  vessel  being  unable  to  sail  out  under  the 
American  flag. 

"I'd  be  amazed  if  the  administration  ever  presented 
the  mediation  plan  to  Congress. ' ' 

Although  he  did  not  make  it  a  part  of  his  written 
acceptance  through  Secretary  Bryan,  President  Wilson 
was  understood  to  have  imposed  one  condition  upon  the 
mediators — namely,  that  Huerta  must  go.  That  was  the 
only  point  in  respect  to  Mexico  on  which  Mr.  Wilson's 
mind  was  unchangeably  made  up. 


MEXICO,  THE  BECORD  OF  THE  YEABS. 


CHAPTER  XI 
OUR  ARMED,  FORCES 

A  BEVIEW  OF  THE  RECENT  HISTORY  OF  MEXICO WHAT  HAP- 
PENED TO  FRANCISCO  MADERO — THE  DOWNFALL  OF  DIAZ — 
LANDING  OF  AMERICAN  MARINES  AT  VERA  CRUZ — STRENGTH 
OF  THE  AMERICAN  AND  MEXICAN  ARMIES  AND  NAVIES — A 
CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE. 

MEXICO  had  been  in  a  troubled  state  since  1910. 
Up  to  that  time  President  Porfirio  Diaz  ruled 
the  country  with  inflexible  severity  for  a  gen- 
eration. A  despot  in  his  methods,  he  nevertheless  kept 
order  and  in  some  degree  aided  development  of  the  coun- 
try^ resources.  But  the  people  revolted  against  the 
iron-handed  rule  of  Diaz  and  they  found  their  leader  in 
the  person  of  Francisco  Madero,  under  whom  the  coun- 
try soon  flamed  into  revolution. 

DIAZ    FORCED    TO    ABDICATE 

In  May,  1911,  President  Diaz  was  forced  to  abdicate, 
and  in  the  following  November,  Madero  was  chosen  his 
successor.  Madero  lacked  the  governing  genius  that 
Diaz  possessed.  He  made  the  mistake  of  trying  to  pla- 
cate malcontents.  The  fall  of  Madero  was  brought  about 
by  his  own  former  adherents.     He  was   assassinated 

129 


130  OUR  ARMED  FORCES 

under  suspicious  circumstances  after  the  establishment 
of  Victoriano  Huerta  as  dictator.  The  regime  of  Huerta 
was  confined  to  government  in  a  small  section  of  the 
country,  most  of  the  more  remote  districts  being  in  con- 
stant rebellion.  In  the  North  the  provisional  govern- 
ment failed  to  exercise  the  slightest  control,  and  the 
constitutionalists  under  General  Carranza  set  up  an 
independent  administration  conducted  with  some  degree 
of  success. 

AMEKICAN    MAKINES   LANDED 

Up  to  April  22, 1914,  American  marines  had  captured 
the  City  of  Vera  Cruz,  with  prospect  of  a  later  invasion 
of  Mexico  through  a  march  of  American  troops  to 
Mexico  City.  At  the  time  stated,  diplomatic  relations 
between  the  United  States  Government  and  the  pro- 
visional government  of  Mexico  had  ceased  and  the 
American  Congress  had  authorized  President  "Wilson  to 
use  the  armed  forces  of  the  nation  to  secure  redress  for 
insults  to  the  American  flag.  The  following  chronology 
is  self-explanatory: 

MEXICAN   EVENTS  IN   1913 

February  9 — A  pitched  battle  takes  place  in  the 
streets  of  Mexico  City  between  federal  troops  and  the 
followers  of  Felix  Diaz.  General  Bernardo  Eeyes  is 
slain. 

February  16 — President  Taft  in  note  to  President 
Madero  reaffirms  the  policy  of  non-intervention. 

February  18 — President  Madero  is  taken  prisoner  by 
federal  General  Huerta;  the  latter  is  proclaimed  pro- 
visional president. 


OUR  ARMED  FORCES 


131 


OH. GCOR.eE, PROMISE  ME 
THAT  IF  THERE'S  A  WAR  YOU'Lt 
HOT  GO!  PLEASE  TEll  ME  THAT 
IF  THT  PRESIDENT  PRAFJS  YOU 
VOU-VfiLk  HIRE  &OMF  ONE  TO 
GO  IN  YOUR-  PLACE!  (LOOK. 

GrEOR^E,  PROMISE  ME! 


,OM;-weu..iF'W«r>s 

TMCWSA'r  YOU  FEEL 
ABOUT  «T  fu.  NOT 

<^a  to  war* 


1 


I  i 

I  i 


2Sfj 


£**£ 


PA  HAS  HIS  OWN  PRIVATE  VIEWS  HELD  IN  RESERVE. 


132  OUR  ARMED  FORCES 

February  19 — Gustavo  Madero,  brother  of  the  presi- 
dent and  former  minister  of  finance,  is  executed  by 
troops  of  the  new  government. 

February  21 — Ambassador  Henry  Lane  Wilson  sends 
his  ' '  sincere  congratulations ' '  to  Huerta.  Huerta  assures 
United  States  Government  that  Madero  will  not  be 
executed  summarily. 

February  22 — United  States  War  Department  orders 
4,000  soldiers  to  Mexican  border. 

February  23 — President  Madero  and  Vice  President 
Suarez  were  assassinated.  Eevolt  is  started  in  eleven 
states  against  Huerta  regime. 

February  24 — United  States  announces  its  policy  not 
changed  by  murder. 

February  27 — Huerta  asks  for  the  passage  of  a  bill 
to  pardon  all  political  offenders. 

March  2 — Mexican  troops  kill  sixty  prisoners  under 
fugitive  law. 

March  7 — Huerta  denies  murder  of  Madero  and 
Suarez. 

March  14 — Ex-President  Porfirio  Diaz  indorses 
Huerta  regime. 

March  30 — The  Mexican  government  protests  to 
United  States  against  the  shipment  of  arms  across  the 
border. 

April  13 — Federal  garrison  at  Naco  under  General 
Ojeda  flees  into  Arizona  and  surrenders  to  American 
soldiers. 

May  9 — Huerta  declares  Ambassador  Wilson  without 
diplomatic  standing  because  United  States  fails  to  recog- 
nize Mexican  government. 

May  11-25 — Federal  officers  executed  by  order  of  the 
constitutionalist  commanders. ' 


OUR  ARMED  FORCES 


133 


THE   MOVIE  MAN  AND  GENERAL  VILLA— AN  EVEN  BREAK. 


134  OUR  ARMED  FORCES 

May  16 — Huerta  is  charged  in  Mexican  Parliament 
with  conspiracy,  usurpation,  and  assassination. 

May  22 — Federal  troops  are  defeated  in  Coahnila. 
Everything  between  Saltillo  and  Monclava  falls  into 
hands  of  constitutionalists. 

June  10 — Federal  troop  train  is  dynamited  and  200 
killed. 

June  20 — Federal  troops  defeat  constitutionalists  in 
two-day  battle  at  Ortiz. 

July  16 — Ambassador  Wilson  leaves  for  Washington 
to  explain  Mexican  situation. 

July  25 — Durango  falls  into  hands  of  constitu- 
tionalists. 

August  4 — Ambassador  Wilson  resigns  Mexican  post. 

August  7 — John  Lind  is  dispatched  to  Mexico  on 
battleship  "New  Hampshire"  to  present  President  Wil- 
son^ plans  for  mediation  and  the  holding  of  a  popular 
election  for  president. 

August  8 — Huerta  announces  that  Lind  will  be  per- 
sona non  grata  unless  he  comes  prepared  to  recognize 
existing  government. 

August  9 — General  Felix  Diaz  on  way  to  Japan  with 
special  mission  from  Mexican  government. 
.    August  13 — Japan  refuses  to  recognize  Diaz.     Con- 
stitutionalists raise  siege  of  Torreon  after  loss  of  3,200 
men. 

August  27 — Huerta  rejects  President  Wilson's  "peace 
plan,"  and  Special  Envoy  Lind  returns  to  Vera  Cruz 
from  Mexico  City. 

September  16 — In  a  message  to  the  Mexican  Con- 
gress, Huerta  promises  an  unrestricted  popular  election 
for  the  presidency. 

September  27 — Diaz  is  recalled  to  Mexico  for  active 


OUR  ARMED  FORCES 
A. 


135 


'WILL  HUERTA  EVER   RESIGN?"— A   POINTED   CARTOON  OF  THE 

PERIOD. 


136  OUR  ARMED  FORCES 

army  service,  after  his  candidacy  for  the  presidency 
is  announced. 

October  7 — The  constitutionalists  capture  the  City  of 
Piedras  Negras. 

October  10 — Huerta  seizes  and  imprisons  110  depu- 
ties of  the  Mexican  Parliament  who  had  signed  a  resolu- 
tion of  warning  against  him  because  of  the  disappear- 
ance of  a  senator. 

October  14 — Huerta  suspends  constitutional  guaran- 
tees and  proclaims  himself  dictator.  Sir  Lionel  Carden, 
British  minister  to  Mexico,  presents  his  credentials  to 
Huerta. 

October  27 — Elections  take  place  in  Mexico  which  are 
evidently  farcical. 

November  4 — President  "Wilson  sends  ultimatum  to 
Huerta,  demanding  that  he  retire.    Huerta  ignores  it. 

November  12 — Premier  Asquith  announces  policy  of 
non-intervention  by  Great  Britain. 

November  14 — Constitutionalists  capture  Culiacan, 
capital  of  the  State  of  Sinaloa. 

November  18 — Victoria,  capital  of  Tamaulipas,  cap- 
tured and  occupied  by  the  constitutionalists. 

November  26 — Pancho  Villa  wins  the  battle  of  Juarez. 

December  1 — Chihuahua  is  evacuated  by  the  federals 
and  Villa  begins  his  advance  toward  Mexico  City. 

December  9 — The  election  results  of  October  27  are 
annulled  and  new  elections  set  for  July.  Meanwhile 
Huerta  is  to  retain  provisional  presidency. 

THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  1914 

January  10 — Ojinaga  occupied  by  Villa  after  a  six- 
day  battle.  The  constitutionalists  are  now  in  control 
of  the  northern  tier  of  Mexican  states. 


OUR  ARMED  FORCES  137 

February  3 — President  Wilson  lifts  the  embargo  on 
arms,  applied  to  Mexico  by  President  Taft. 

February  14 — Clemente  Vergera,  a  Texas  ranger,  is 
lured  across  the  border  by  the  federals  and  killed. 
Texans  recover  his  body. 

February  17 — William  S.  Benton,  British  subject,  is 
killed  in  Juarez  by  Fierro,  one  of  Villa's  lieutenants, 
yilla  is  cleared  of  blame. 

April  3 — Torreon  is  evacuated  by  the  federals  after 
repeated  defeats  in  hard  fought  battles. 

April  7 — The  constitutionalists  move  against  Tam- 
pico  and  begin  the  attack. 

April  9 — Paymaster  and  boats  crew  of  American 
marines  from  the  United  States  Grunboat  Dolphin 
arrested  by  a  Mexican  federal  officer  at  boats  landing 
in  Tampico. 

April  10 — Admiral  Mayo  demands  an  apology  and 
flag  salute. 

April  13 — Huerta  refuses  to  give  the  salute  demanded 
by  the  United  States  Government. 

April  15 — A  war  fleet  of  twenty-one  battleships 
receives  orders  to  sail  for  Mexico  and  to  block  the  Mex- 
ican ports  if  Huerta  does  not  comply  with  the  demand 
for  a  salute. 

April  19 — Huerta  again  definitely  refuses  to  yield  to 
the  demand  for  an  unconditional  salute. 

April  20 — President  reads  special  message  to  Con- 
gress. 

April  21 — Vera  Cruz  taken  by  United  States  forces 
after  sharp  fight.    Congress  authorizes  president  to  act. 

April  22 — Huerta  suspends  all  diplomatic  relations 
with  the  United  States.    Fighting  continues  in  Vera  Cruz. 


138  OUR  ARMED  FORCES 

THE  MEXICAN  AKMY  AND  NAVY 

have  at  present  largely  a  paper  strength,  as  a  consider- 
able part  of  the  regular  army  in  the  north  has  gone  over 
to  the  constitutional  camp.  The  official  figures  on  the 
organization  of  the  army  are : 

PEACE  STEENGTH— 107  generals,  6,236  officers, 
49,332  men. 

WAE  STEENGTH— Estimated  at  from  50,000  to 
84,000  of  all  ranks. 

The  army  consists  of  30  battalions  of  infantry,  18 
regiments  of  cavalry,  1  regiment  of  horse  artillery,  2 
regiments  of  field  artillery,  and  1  of  mountain  guns,  etc. 
Each  artillery  regiment  consists  in  time  of  peace  of  four 
batteries,  in  time  of  war  raised  to  six. 

The  national  guard  is  practically  without  training  or 
organization  and  would  be  very  difficult  to  mobilize. 

Mauser  rifles  (1901  model)  are  used  by  the  regular 
infantry  and  cavalry,  but  the  reserves  use  the  old  Eem- 
ington  1893  model.  The  artillery  is  fairly  well  supplied 
with  Schneider-Canet  quick-firing  guns.  Eecently,  the 
Mexican  government  has  made  heavy  purchases  of  guns, 
chiefly  rifles,  in  Japan.  Most  of  the  ammunition  used  is 
made  in  Mexican  arsenals. 

The  navy  is  almost  a  negligible  feature.  There  were 
until  July  five  gunboats,  but  one  of  these  was  destroyed 
recently  by  the  constitutionalists  in  the  harbor  of 
Guaymas. 

PEESONNEL  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  AEMY 
AND  NAVY  MAECH  20,  1914 

Eegular  Army — Officers,  4,933 ;  enlisted  men,  92,426. 
Philippine  Scouts — Officers,  180 ;  enlisted  men,  5,732. 


OUR  ARMED  FORCES  '  139 

Militia— Officers,  9,142;  enlisted  men,  112,710. 

Regular  Navy — Officers,  3,293 ;  enlisted  men,  49,854. 

Marine  Corps — Officers,  345 ;  enlisted  men,  9,921. 

Naval  Militia — Officers,  615 ;  enlisted  men,  7,185. 

In  the  regular  army  the  infantry  consists  of  thirty 
regiments  of  three  battalions  each,  and  each  battalion 
falls  into  four  companies.  The  cavalry  has  fifteen  regi- 
ments of  three  squadrons.  The  field  artillery  comprises 
six  regiments,  each  of  six  batteries;  of  these  two  regi- 
ments are  light  artillery,  two  mountain  artillery,  one 
field  artillery,  and  one  horse  artillery.  To  each  battery 
are  allotted  four  guns  firing  a  15-pound  shell,  and  eight 
wagons. 

The  militia  is  a  body  of  voluntary  state  troops  which 
the  president  can  call  out  for  service  within  the  country 
or  outside  of  it. 

THE  VESSELS  OF  THE  NAVY 

Ships 

Battleships,  First-line 8 

Battleships,  Second-line 24 

Armored  Cruisers 10 

Cruisers : 

First-class 6 

Second-class 3 

Third-class  16 

Monitors 7 

Destroyers    48 

Torpedo  boats 21 

Submarines 27 

Tenders 7 

Gunboats  30 

Transports  5 


140  OUR  ARMED  FORCES 

Supply  ships  4 

Hospital  ships 2 

Fuel  ships 22 

Converted  yachts  16 

Tugs  45 

Special 7 

Unserviceable  for  war . .  21 


329 

THE   ATLANTIC   FLEET 

Battleship  Tons 

"Wyoming  (flagship)   26,000 

Arkansas   26,000 

Connecticut 16,000 

Florida 21,825 

Utah  • 21,825 

Delaware   . . ." ~ 20,000 

North  Dakota 20,000 

Michigan    20,000 

South  Carolina 16,000 

Louisiana ^ 16,000 

Vermont 16,000 

New  Hampshire 16,000 

Kansas 16,000 

Minnesota 16,000 

Idaho 13,000 

Georgia 14,948 

Virginia 14,948 

Nebraska  14,948 

New  Jersey 14,948 

Ehode  Island  14,948 

Missouri 12,800 

Ohio 12,500 


OUR  ARMED  FORCES  141 

Maine   12,500 

Illinois 11,552 

Wisconsin 11,552 

Alabama 11,552 

Kearsarge  11,520 

Kentucky  11,520 

Iowa   11,346 

Indiana 10,288 

Massachusetts 10,288 

AKMOEED  CRUISEKS 

Tennessee 14,500 

Montana 14,500 

Washington 14,500 

North  Carolina 14,500 

CRUISERS 

Salem  4,750 

Birmingham 3,750 

Chester , 3,750 

Baltimore 4,413 

24  Destroyers,  3  Gunboats,  16  Torpedo  boats,  10  Sub- 
marines, etc. 

THE   PACIFIC   FLEET 

varies  considerably  in  size,  as  vessels  are  frequently 
interchanged  between  it  and  the  Asiatic  Fleet.  April  18, 
1914,  the  Pacific  Fleet  included  the  battleship  Oregon, 
six  armored  cruisers,  five  other  cruisers,  nine  destroyers 
and  torpedo  boats,  and  nine  submarines. 


SAN 


MEXICO'S  LAND   LOSSES  TO   THE   UNITED   STATES: 
1  AND  3  BY  THE  WAR;  2  BY  THE  GODSLEN  PURCHASE. 


HOW  AMERICAN  CARTOONISTS  LAMPOONED  HENRY  LANE   WILSON, 
WHO  WAS  ACCUSED  OF  BEING  PRO-HUERTA  IN  HIS  SYMPATHIES. 


144 


THE  READY  RED  CROSS 


MERCY  SAKES 
I  DlDrt'r  KNOW 

HE   WAS   ASBftD 
AS    THAT 


CARTOON   REFLECTING    THE    OPINION      OF    SOME    NEWSPAPERS 
AS  TO  PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  CAMPAIGN  AGAINST  HUERTA. 


Copyrighted  by  Underwood  and  Underwood 

STRAWBERRIES— MEXICANS  RAISE  THEM  BY  IRRIGATION. 


Photograph,  Underwood  and  Underwood 

WATER  SELLER— YOU  BUY  ALL  YOU  GET. 


Copyrighted  by  Underwood  and  Underw 

SOMBREROS— THE  MEXICAN  NATIONAL  HATSHOP. 


Copyrighted  by  Underwood  and  Underwood 

THE  WOMEN  AT  THE  TOWN  WELL— AMATLAN. 


Copyrighted  by  Underwood  and  Underwood 

THE  BRIDGE  AT  AMATLAN— OF  GREAT  AGE. 


Copyrighted  by  Underwood  and  Underwood 

A  SPLENDID  FOUNTAIN— CITY  OF  MEXICO. 


Copyrighted  by  Underwood  and  Underwood 

A  PRIMARY  SCHOOL  IN  JALAP  A- 


-IN  SPITE  OP  WAR. 


Copyrighted  by  Underwood  and  Underwood 

JUANACATLAN  FALLS— WHERE  LOVERS  SOJOURN. 


*"     ^S^***    __J 


Copyrighted  by  Underwood  and  Underwood 

COFFEE  BAG  MAKING— SANTA  GERTRUDIS,  NEAR  ORIZABA. 


t 


if.mi 


t 


Copyrighted  by  Underwood  and  Underwood 

THE  COLLEGIATE  CHUBCH  AT  GUADALOUPEr— LATELY  UNDER  FIRE. 


Copyrighted  by  Underwood  and  Underwood 

GATHERING  PRICKLY  PEAR  FRUIT— TUNAS. 


FEDERAL  SOLDIER,  AFTER  THE  BATTLE. 


CHAPTER  XII 
THE  READY  RED  CROSS 

THE  RED  CROSS  AMONG  THE  FIRST  ORGANIZATIONS  TO  BE  READY 
— FORTY-FIVE  HUNDRED  TRAINED  NURSES  PREPARED  TO 
SAIL  AT  ONCE — MABEL  BOARDMAN  *S  INTERESTING  STATE- 
MENT— TAMPICO,  THE  PLAGUE  SPOT  OF  MEXICO. 

ALMOST  as  soon  as  the  first  note  of  war  had  been 
sounded  word  was  sent  out  that  the  American 
Red  Cross  would  be  ready  to  take  the  field  with 
the  troops. 

Forty-five  hundred  of  the  best  trained  nurses  in  the 
United  States  were  enrolled  in  this  superb  body.  Miss 
Mabel  T.  Boardman,  chairman  of  the  national  relief 
board  of  the  Red  Cross  issued  the  following  statement : 

"Under  regulations  issued  by  the  secretaries  of  war 
and  navy,  as  authorized  by  Congress,  American  National 
Red  Cross  in  time  of  war  becomes  part  of  the  military 
personnel  of  the  army  and  navy.  In  practice,  this  means 
that  the  units  composing  Red  Cross  are  placed  in  charge 
of  medical  officers  of  the  army  and  navy,  have  uniforms 
issued  to  them  and  receive  pay,  allowances  and  subsist- 
ence from  military  authorities. 

READY  FOR  EMERGENCY 

"Only  in  cases  of  great  emergency  are  Red  Cross 
workers  assigned  to  duty  at  the  front  or  on  ships  of  war. 

161 


162  THE  READY  RED  CROSS 

They  usually  remain  in  hospitals  in  the  home  country, 
at  the  base  of  operations,  on  hospital  ships  and  along 
lines  of  communications  of  military  forces.  Such  hos- 
pitals would  be  established  at  Galveston  and  at  some 
point  on  the  Pacific  coast.  Probably  another  hospital 
would  be  located  at  New  York.  Red  Cross  would  pro- 
vide nurses  and  personnel  for  such  hospitals.  Work  of 
actual  direction  of  these  hospitals  and  other  relief  work 
which  might  be  carried  on  nearer  the  scene  of  operations 
would  be  under  medical  officers  of  the  army  and  navy. 

"In  case  military  operations  became  extensive  and 
involved  a  long  campaign,  there  would  be  large  numbers 
sick  as  the  result  of  fever  and  tropical  diseases.  These 
would  be  sent  back  from  the  front  for  care  in  hospitals 
established  at  military  bases  and  in  the  United  States. 

"In  addition  to  the  4,500  trained  nurses  on  our  rolls 
and  ready  for  service  any  time,  the  Red  Cross  has  a 
large  number  of  men  instructed  in  first  aid,  and  a  corps 
of  hospital  orderlies  could  be  promptly  obtained.  In 
addition  to  that  we  would  call  upon  the  Needlework 
Guild,  an  affiliated  organization,  upon  federations  of 
women's  clubs,  church  sewing  societies  and  other  such 
organizations  to  provide  linen  supplies  for  hospitals  and 
ships,  which  might  be  necessary  for  the  wounded  and 
sick. 

BELIEF  BOAKD  TAKES  CHAEGE 

"The  Red  Cross  war  relief  board  has  arranged  to 
meet.  It  is  composed  of  Surgeon  General  Gorgas  of  the 
army,  chairman ;  Surgeon  General  Braisted  of  navy,  vice 
chairman,  and  a  number  of  other  medical  officers,  phy- 
sicians, nurses  and  civilians  familiar  with  work  which 
will  have  to  be  done. ' ' 


THE  READY  RED  CROSS  163 

Tampico,  the  most  unhealthy  place  on  the  map,  was 
the  objective  of  many  of  the  Bed  Cross  nurses,  for  there 
fever  and  other  diseases  due  to  bad  sanitation  and  bad 
water  were  expected  to  run  riot  in  the  early  stages  of 
the  campaign. 

TAMPICO  A  PLAGUE  SPOT 

Tampico,  the  storm  center  of  Mexico,  in  the  event  of 
war  with  the  United  States,  sweats  in  a  humid, 
unhealthy,  heated  atmosphere  in  the  southeastern  corner 
of  the  State  of  Tamaulipas,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Panuco 
River. 

It  was  an  Aztec  city.  In  1683  it  was  destroyed  by 
the  pirate  Lorencilla  and  was  not  rebuilt  until  1823.  It 
received  the  name  Santa  Ana  de  Tamaulipas  in  1834, 
and  was  the  scene  of  a  Mexican  victory  over  the  Spanish 
in  1827. 

It  is  a  city  of  some  commercial  importance  and  high 
death  rate.  Lagoons  and  rushes,  rising  out  of  the  blue 
slime,  surround  it  and  invade  it  when  the  health  authori- 
ties sleep. 

The  population  hovers  around  eighteen  thousand,  slid- 
ing back  two  hundred  or  three  hundred  at  intervals  as 
the  inhabitants  shrivel  before  an  epidemic  of  yellow  fever. 

The  eastern  and  poorer  section  of  the  town  is  built 
on  low  ground  three  feet  above  the  river,  subject  to 
inundation.  The  western  section  is  built  on  high  ground 
150  feet  above  sea  level,  and  holds  private  residences, 
good  water  and  drainage.  The  business  section  is  well 
built,  with  wide  streets,  market  places  and  gas  and  elec- 
tric lights. 


164 


THE  READY  RED  CROSS 


(WELL,  IT'S  A  NASTY  BIT  OF  SEA  AND  A  ROCKY  SHORE,  BUT 
IF  IT'S  A  QUESTION  OF  RESCUE,  HERE  GOES." 


THE  READY  RED  CROSS  165 

JUNCTION  OF  TWO  KAILWAYS 

It  is  the  junction  of  two  railroads,  the  Monterey  and 
Gulf  line,  running  north,  northwest  to  Ciudad,  Victoria 
and  Monterey,  and  a  branch  of  the  Mexican  Central  run- 
ning west  to  San  Luis  Potosi.  Then  there  are  river  boats 
on  the  Panuco,  plying  to  the  mouth  of  the  Tamazunchale, 
135  miles  away.  Another  boat  line  runs  to  Tamiahua,  on 
the  Texpan  canal,  a  distance  of  77  miles.  The  industries 
are  oil  refineries,  ice  factories,  canneries  and  clothing  fac- 
tories, and  a  small  shipyard. 

The  exports  are  oil,  mining  and  grazing  products, 
wood,  honey,  wool,  hemp  and  silver  bullion  from  San 
Luis  Potosi,  Aguascalentes,  Torreon  and  Monterey.  It 
is  the  coast  heart  of  northeastern  Mexico  and  rivals  Vera 
Cruz  as  a  commercial  port. 

TO   MAKE   BEER  USEES  PAY 

The  cost  of  war  with  Mexico,  if  war  is  necessary, 
would,  it  was  announced,  fall  on  users  of  beer,  tobacco, 
drugs  and  on  commercial  transactions  represented  by 
checks,  drafts,  stock  transfers  and  similar  dealings. 

This  is  the  usual  method  of  financing  a  war.  It  was 
employed  in  the  Spanish- American  war.  The  beer  tax 
was  increased  nearly  one-third,  and  the  result  was 
smaller  glasses  of  beer.  The  tobacco  tax  was  increased 
in  about  the  same  proportion,  and  the  tobacco  trust  took 
it  out  of  the  public  by  decreasing  the  sizes  of  the  pack- 
ages, allowing  the  price  for  standard  makes  to  remain 
the  same.  The  commonest  tax,  the  one  noted  in  com- 
mercial transactions,  is  that  on  checks.  Everybody  pay- 
ing by  check  had  to  have  a  two-cent  stamp  on  the  check, 
and  in  course  of  time  the  check  books  were  issued  with 


166  THE  READY  RED  CROSS 

the  stamps  printed  on  the  checks,  and  a  charge  was  made 
for  the  book  to  cover  the  international  revenue  tax. 

The  stock  exchange  transfer  was  theoretically  aimed 
at  rich  people  transferring  valuable  properties  in  stocks. 
It  was  successfully  evaded  by  all  large  firms  like  Morgan 
&  Co.  by  various  tricks,  such  as  making  no  official  record 
of  stocks  bought  and  sold  on  the  stock  exchange.  All 
the  nominal  sales  by  margin  of  such  stocks  escaped  the 
war  tax. 

The  beer  and  tobacco  tax  was  easily  transferred  to 
the  consumers  of  these  articles,  and  even  the  tax  on 
checks  was  handed  down  to  the  people  who  pay  the  bills. 
In  other  words,  wars  are  financed  by  taxes  on  the  produc- 
ing public  rather  than  upon  the  possessors  of  accumu- 
lated wealth. 

REVENUES  AEE  NOW  SCANT 

The  income  tax  made  thoroughly  constitutional, 
afforded  an  opportunity  for  financing  the  Mexican  war. 
During  the  Civil  war  a  large  amount  of  money  was  raised 
by  an  income  tax,  no  question  then  being  raised  as  to  its 
constitutionality.  A  sharply-graduated  increase  in  the 
income  tax  has  been  easily  arranged  by  a  brief  amend- 
ment to  the  present  income-tax  law.  The  administra- 
tion of  such  a  measure  would  be  simple,  since  the  returns 
are  in  and  the  Government  knows  who  must  pay  income 
taxes. 

It  would  be  necessary  to  send  notice  to  those  who 
have  paid,  that  bills  are  a  certain  percentage  higher, 
according  to  the  graduated  increase  which  may  be  made 
by  congressional  amendment.  • 

It  is  impossible  to  estimate  how  many  billions  a  war 
would  cost  that  lasted  over  a  year  or  two. 


CHAPTER  XIII 
LTHE  WOMEN  OF  MEXICO 

THE   WOMEN"   OF   MEXICO HOW   CLASS  LINES  DIVIDE  THEM 

MEXICAN   METHODS   OF   COURTSHIP THE  TEIAL  MARRIAGE 

POPULAR     AMONG     PEONS — LOT     OF     MEXICAN     WOMAN     A 

HARD     ONE — COOKING     WITH     CHARCOAL     BRAZIER HOW 

WEALTHY  WOMEN  LIVE. 

THE  women  of  Mexico  include  some  of  the  most  in- 
teresting types  the  world  has  produced.     From 
the  highest  to  the  lowest  they  are  characterized 
types. 

Class  lines  between  the  women  of  Mexico  are  sharp 
and  distinct. 

On  one  side  are  the  women  of  the  protected  class — 
boasting  of  Castilian  descent,  guarded  by  duennas,  garbed 
in  imitation  Parisian  styles  and  the  Spanish  mantilla, 
and  surrounded  by  all  the  conventions  and  customs  in- 
augurated by  the  Spanish. 

Women  of  this  class  are  never  unattended  in  public. 
They  are  always  accompanied  by  elderly  women,  who, 
in  the  United  States,  would  be  called  chaperons. 

One  of  the  customs  that  still  survives  is  that  of  "play- 
ing the  bear"  by  young  men  who  court  them.  This  con- 
sists of  a  course  of  "watchful  waiting"  outside  the  door 
or  window  of  a  young  woman  by  the  chap  who  has  been 

167 


168  THE  WOMEN  OF  MEXICO 

smitten.  After  a  lengthy  course  of  this  sort  of  training 
he  may  finally  be  permitted  to  enter  the  family  circle  if 
he  complies  with  a  further  course  of  customs  and  con- 
ventionalities. 

"playing  the  beak"  in  love 

In  Mexico  City  and  some  of  the  larger  and  more  up- 
to-date  places  this  old  Spanish  custom  has  been  suc- 
ceeded by  modern  drawing-room  conventionalities,  but  it 
still  exists  in  many  places. 

The  middle-class  women — as  a  class — hardly  exist.  It 
is  a  sharp  contrast  between  the  protected  woman  of  the 
prosperous  and  the  woman  of  the  peon  class. 

The  latter  is  more  primitive.  Being,  generally,  an 
Indian,  her  characteristics  are  quite  different,  and  the 
system  of  peonage  has  held  her  back  so  that  she  has 
remained  in  practically  the  same  state  for  hundreds  of 
years. 

She  does  the  hard,  manual  labor  of  the  household,  the 
same  as  a  North  American  Indian  squaw.  She  is  the 
commissary  department  of  the  army.  She  is  absolutely 
ignorant,  long  suffering  and  faithful  to  whoever  her  lord 
and  master  may  happen  to  be. 

Among  a  very  large  part  of  the  peon  or  "cholo" 
class,  marriages,  as  we  understand  them,  are  unknown. 
In  reality  they  are  "trial  marriages. "  The  cost  of  a 
church  and  civil  ceremony  is  prohibitive,  so  that  gen- 
erally it  is  dispensed  with.  There  is  a  sort  of  civil  con- 
tract that  may  be  procured  in  some  sections  of  Mexico 
at  a  very  small  cost  that  is  frequently  used,  but  is  not 
binding. 


THE  WOMEN  OF  MEXICO  169 

MANY  OF  GREAT  BEAUTY 

The  Spanish-Mexican  girl  of  the  protected  class  ofteii 
is  famous  for  her  beauty  and  her  accomplishments.  Her 
peon  sister  may  be  prepossessing  in  appearance  from 
fourteen  to  twenty  years  of  age,  but,  after  that,  manual 
labor  and  hardships  age  her  quickly. 

Most  peon  women  are  little  better  than  slaves.  They 
accompany  their  men  folks  everywhere.  Thousands  of 
peons  are  employed  on  American  railroads  in  the  south- 
west. These  laborers  are  transported  from  place  to  place 
in  long  strings  of  box  cars.  The  women  and  children 
are  always  there,  each  family  making  a  box  car  their 
home.  Their  only  amusement  is  the  inevitable  Mexican 
guitar.  They  are  as  fond  of  bright  colors  and  cheap 
jewelry  as  any  people  in  a  primitive  state. 

Altogether  the  lot  of  the  Mexican  peon  woman  is  a 
hard  one,  but  she  seldom  realizes  this,  because  she  has 
never  known  or  heard  of  anything  better.  Discontent  is 
spreading  among  the  men,  but  as  yet  the  women  merely 
follow,  submissively,  without  any  knowledge  of  what  it 
is  all  about. 

THE  EVER   PRESENT   FAN 

The  most  effectual  and  indispensable  toilet  accessory 
to  the  high-caste  Mexican  woman  is  the  fascinating  fan 
which  is  seen  in  every  shape,  size,  style  and  color. 

Arid  a  close  second  to  the  coquettish  fan  is  the  flirta- 
tious handerkerchief,  which  is  often  made  of  the  most 
wonderful  lace  and  the  finest  of  fabric. 

Ladies  do  not  attend  funerals  in  Mexico,  but  express 
their  sympathy  and  regrets  in  notes  of  condolence. 


170  THE  WOMEN  OF  MEXICO 

One  of  the  most  interesting  duties  which  the  house- 
wife has  to  perform  in  a  Mexican  city  is  her  marketing. 
Fruits,  vegetables,  chickens,  etc.,  can  be  bought  from 
vendors  who  go  through  the  streets  crying  their  wares, 
as  well  as  at  the  markets. 

The  early-rising  fashion  hasn't  penetrated  the  sleepy 
Mexican  country  yet.  In  the  morning  he  who  loves  his 
last  doze  may  have  it  in  perfect  peace  and  quiet.  The 
first  meal  of  the  day  with  the  high-caste  women,  as  a 
rule,  is  coffee  or  cocoa  and  bread  served  in  bed.  Of 
course,  the  servants  are  up,  but  they  go  about  as  quietly 
as  mice. 

BEEAKFAST   AT    NOON 

Breakfast  is  served  at  noon,  and  dinner  later  in  the 
day.  After  dinner  there  is  the  far-famed  siesta — or  after- 
noon nap. 

The  climate  seems  to  demand  a  rich  and  highly-spiced 
diet.  The  frijola,  native  beans,  chili  con  came,  tortillas 
and  highly-seasoned  soup  constitute  a  part  of  the  daily 
menu. 

Among  the  poor,  women  with  their  children  are  often 
found  in  a  single  room,  an  unplastered  adobe  hut,  per- 
haps. The  mother  spends  most  of  her  time  kneeling 
behind  a  stone  ' '  metale ' '  making  ' '  tortillas. ' ' 

This  humble  home  has  little,  if  any  furniture,  except 
for  a  brick  charcoal  cooking  apparatus  and  a  few  rush 
mats  upon  which  the  members  of  the  family  sleep  at 
night,  upon  the  floor.  The  walls  are  probably  orna- 
mented with  a  gaudy  print  or  two  of  the  Virgin  and  a 
number  of  picturesque  little  pictures.  Somewhere  in  the 
kitchen  will  be  found  an  "estiladera"  (water  filter),  made 


THE  WOMEN  OF  MEXICO  171 

from  a  porous,  volcanic  rock  peculiar  to  the  country.  The 
water  percolates  through  the  pores  into  a  vessel  beneath, 
and  it  keeps  as  cold  as  ice. 

HOW  MEXICAN  WOMEN"  COOK 

An  American  woman,  looking  in  vain  for  the  stove, 
sees  the  "brazieros,"  a  sort  of  table  of  brick  or  tile  in 
which  is  set  an  iron  grate  about  a  foot  square.  Upon 
this  a  fire  of  charcoal  is  built.  Underneath  is  a  grate 
where  ashes  may  be  removed.  After  the  fire  is  kindled 
with  a  little  kerosene  it  must  be  fanned  till  it  blazes  up 
brightly. 

In  this  household  it  is  more  than  likely  that  the  old- 
est girl  goes  out  to  service.  The  servant  in  Mexico  knows 
little  about  housekeeping  as  the  American  knows  it.  Her 
favorite  scheme  of  dish-washing  is  the  use  of  cold  water, 
soap  and  a  piece  of  hemp  rope  fiber.  She  doesn't  think 
of  drying  them,  but  leaves  them  to  drain. 

The  women  of  Mexico,  all  classes,  are  naturally  im- 
pulsive, kind-hearted,  sincere,  sociable  and  most  hos- 
pitable. 


fr-~%.     »     Cl     f  r     ft  *    -  -^^ 


WOODROW  WILSON,  THE  SCHOOL  TEACHER. 


CHAPTER  XIV 
THE  REAL  CAUSES  OF  THE  TROUBLE 

HUNGER  FOR  LAND  AMONG  THE  COMMON  PEOPLE  THE  REAL 
CAUSE  OF  REVOLUTION — DIAZ  DEADLY  RULE  OPENED  MANY 
EYES — MADERO  POSED  AS  FRIEND  BUT  BETRAYED  HIS  TRUST 
IN  THE  CRUCIAL  MOMENT — COMMON  MEXICAN  NOW  FIGHT- 
ING FOR  A  HOME  FOR  HIS  CHILDREN. 

WHAT  precipitated  the  latest  Mexican  crisis? 
Was  it  the  southern  lust  for  a  change  of  rulers  ? 
Was  it  the  ebullient  spirit  of  unrest  so  char- 
acteristic of  Latin  races  in  America?  Or  was  it  a  deter- 
mination on  the  part  of  the  common  people,  so  long  trod* 
den  under  foot,  to  have  a  share  of  the  land  that  has  been 
monopolized  by  the  so-called  land-owning  class? 

Probably  one  of  the  best  informed  men  in  the  world 
on  this  subject  is  Gutierrez  De  Lara,  who  wrote  an  ad- 
mirable book  several  years  ago  on  ' '  The  Mexican  People 
— Their  Struggle  for  Freedom. ' J  In  discussing  the  cause 
of  Mexican  unrest  Mr.  De  Lara  said : 

1 '  The  main  issue  of  the  Mexican  revolution  was  land. 
The  man  behind  the  gun — the  fighting  peon — knows  no 
other  issue;  neither  does  the  man  behind  the  man  be- 
hind the  gun — the  working  peon,  who  keeps  his  brother 
in  the  field. 

* '  The  peon,  fighting  or  working,  is  a  man  of  one  idea. 

173 


174    THE  REAL  CAUSES  OF  THE  TROUBLE 

For  him  life  resolves  itself  into  the  full  personal  owner- 
ship of  a  patch  of  land  where  he  may  raise  corn,  pasture 
his  cow  and  grow  his  vegetables.  For  this  he  has  strug- 
gled almost  continuously  for  exactly  100  years,  and  the 
last  few  years  of  warfare  are  only  the  final  rounds  of  a 
campaign  which  began  with  the  great-grandfathers  of 
the  present  generation. 

"  Again  and  again,  up  and  down  the  length  and 
breadth  of  Sonora.  I  have  cross-examined  men  in  the 
ranks  as  to  the  real  motives  which  prompted  them  to 
risk  their  lives  from  hour  to  hour,  from  day  to  day,  from 
month  to  month,  under  a  Villa,  a  Maytorera,  a  Carranza. 

ANSWEE  ALWAYS  LAND 

''The  answers  were  unmistakably  uniform  and  con- 
cise— 'land.'  " 

The  heart  of  the  last  great  revolution  found  its  first 
pulsation  with  Madero  in  the  chair.  This  moment  is 
summed  up  by  Mr.  De  Lara  as  follows : 

"When  the  people  continued  persistently  to  demand 
of  him  (Madero)  the  restoration  of  the  lands  for  which 
they  had  fought,  he  endeavored  to  dupe  them  by  request- 
ing Congress  to  authorize  the  'Caja  Nacianol  de  Adiorros' 
— an  institution  existing  only  on  paper — to  raise  a  loan 
of  $250,000,000  to  buy  large  tracts  of  land  to  be  sub- 
divided into  small  allotments  and  sold  to  the  people  on 
installments. 

"To  make  the  mockery  more  complete  he  appointed 
as  a  committee  to  handle  the  buying  and  selling  of  these 
lands  a  group  of  wealthy  land  owners,  many  of  them  his 
own  relatives. 


THE  REAL  CAUSES  OF  THE  TROUBLE     175 

ATTACK  ON   MADEKO 

"Francisco  Madero  lost  every  trace  of  his  wonted 
democratic  ideals  and  became,  consciously  or  uncon- 
sciously, the  mere  creature  of  that  same  intolerable  op- 
pression and  exploitation  which  had  provoked  the  revolu- 
tion of  1910. 

' '  The  people  were  not  slow  to  recognize  the  real  state 
of  affairs.  When  the  smoke  of  the  revolution  cleared 
away  they  found  that  for  all  their  troubles  they  had 
changed  nothing  but  a  name.  The  cries  of  '  Viva  Madero ' 
became  stilled.  Then  out  of  the  silence  of  this  illusion- 
ment  and  .despair  there  burst  forth  a  new  cry,  'Viva  la 
Tierra!  Viva  la  Constitution'  as,  full  of  a  new  hope 
and  understanding,  they  unstacked  their  rifles  and  pre- 
pared to  continue  the  fight. 

' '  They  would  fight  no  longer  for  a  man.  Henceforth 
they  never  would  lay  down  their  arms  till  they  them- 
selves had  consummated  that  economic  reorganization 
they  demanded. 

"In  this  clarified  attitude  of  the  Mexican  people  lies 
the  great  hope  of  the  present  revolution.  No  man  hence- 
forth can  ride  on  their  backs  into  power.  They  will  go 
forward  unwaveringly,  irresistibly,  until  they  have  estab- 
lished a  new  social  order.  They  have  learned  democ- 
racy's great  lesson;  that  the  individual  cannot  assume 
the  functions  of  the  collectivity. ' ' 

NO  GOOD  WOKD  FOE  DIAZ 

For  Diaz  Mr.  De  Lara  can  find  no  good  word.  The 
chapters  dealing  with  this  ruler  of  the  southern  nation 
are  nothing  short  of  vitriolic.    Murder  of  a  wholesale 


176    THE  REAL  CAUSES  OF  THE  TROUBLE 

character,  unjustified,  and  robbery  by  well  laid  plans 
have  been  laid  upon  the  record  of  the  dictator  by  the 
author.  After  relating  many  incidents  of  Diaz's  op- 
pression, Mr.  De  Lara  says  of  him : 

"These  episodes  were  sufficient  to  illustrate  the  nature 
and  method  of  the  Diaz  policy  in  regard  to  the  agrarian 
democracy.  Were  one  to  make  a  complete  compilation 
of  all  such  episodes  during  the  years  1877  to  1910,  it 
would  fill  many  volumes  and  constitute  the  bloodiest 
record  since  the  Roman  ruling  class  overthrew  the  slave 
revolts  of  Spartacus  and  decorated  the  Appain  Way  with 
living  torches. 

"By  these  methods  of  despoliation  the  agrarian  de- 
mocracy of  Mexico  was  reduced  to  the  lowest  slavery. 
More  than  a  million  families,  averaging  at  least  five  mem- 
bers to  the  family,  and  consequently  at  least  a  million 
small  traders,  craftsmen  dependent  upon  the  custom  of 
these  families,  a  total  of  6,000,000  working  persons,  at 
least,  were  torn  from  independent  modes  of  livelihood  to 
become  peons  of  no  more  than  fifty  big  land-owning 
families  and  corporations.' ' 

DICTATOK  'S  AIDS  ' '  SINISTER ' ' 

"Barbarous  Mexico"  was  created  through  Diaz  and 
his  body  of  advisors — Scientificos,  as  they  called  them- 
selves. 

"No  account  of  the  Diaz  regime  could  be  complete 
without  some  reference  to  the  sinister  group  of  able  men 
who  guided  his  policies,  well  known  in  recent  times  as 
the  '  Scientificos. 9  These  men  ruled  the  country  and 
directed  the  vast  predatory  operations  upon  the  lands 


THE  REAL  CAUSES  OF  THE  TROUBLE     177 

of  the  agrarian  democracy,  upon  the  public  resources 
and  the  national  treasury. 

"  There  was  not  a  profitable  enterprise  in  all  Mexico 
in  which  they  failed  to  take  a  hand.  These  were  the  men 
who,  with  the  assistance  of  Diaz,  created  '  Barbarous 
Mexico '  and  the  bloody  revolution  of  1910. ' ' 

Through  Madero's  downfall  and  the  revolution  led 
by  Huerta  the  author  finds  an  opportunity  to  bring  the 
United  States  in  the  controversy  and  utilizes  that  oppor- 
tunity to  criticise  this  country  for  its  various  attitudes 
toward  the  Mexican  situation. 

WHO   HUERTA  MEN"  ARE 

"The  force  behind  Felix  Diaz,  comprised  all  the  worst 
elements  of  the  old  regime.  Three  months  before  his 
cuartelazo  in  Mexico  City  Felix  Diaz  started  a  premature 
uprising  in  Vera  Cruz. 

"On  that  occasion  the  Mexican  press  and  various 
reputable  organs  in  both  England  and  the  United  States 
charged  Weetman  D.  Pearson,  better  known  as  Lord 
Cowdray,  with  placing  $15,000,000  at  his  disposal  for  this 
purpose,  and  the  charge  has  not  been  refuted. 

"At  the  firing  of  the  first  shot  the  American  press, 
as  if  in  answer  to  a  preconcerted  signal,  made  a  tre- 
mendous final  effort  to  stampede  the  American  people 
into  demanding  intervention.  President  Taft  again  dis- 
patched fresh  troops  to  the  border  and  ordered  American 
gunboats  to  cruise  off  the  Mexican  coast.  He  still  pro- 
fessed himself  averse  to  intervention,  although  proclaim- 
ing that  if  Congress  should  authorize  him  to  intervene  he 
would  do  so. 


178     THE  REAL  CAUSES  OF  THE  TROUBLE 

H.  L.  WILSON  ASSAILED 

"But  the  vigorous  middle  class  revolt  which  marked 
1912  had  just  culminated  at  that  time  in  the  election  of 
Woodrow  Wilson  to  power;  and  Congress  gauged  the 
temper  of  the  country  too  well  to  make  any  such  request. 
Again  the  policy  of  intervention  fell  before  the  awakened 
social  sense  of  the  people. 

"Henry  Lane  Wilson,  the  American  ambassador  to 
Mexico,  however,  broke  every  tradition  of  diplomacy  and 
brought  disgrace  -upon  the  United  States  by  making 
scarcely  an  effort  to  conceal  his  personal  interest  in  the 
triumph  of  the  Felicista  cause.  His  ill-advised  message 
to  President  Taft  urging  the  recognition  of  the  Huerta 
government  while  the  blood  of  the  murdered  Madero  was 
yet  warm  on  the  ground  shocked  American  decency  to 
the  depths.  In  short,  all  the  elements,  both  American 
and  Mexican,  which  worked  together  with  Porfirio  Diaz 
to  wreck  the  Mexican  democracy  of  the  restoration  and 
create  a  *  barbarous  Mexico'  rallied  to  the  support  of 
Felix  Diaz. 

"It  is  not  supposed  that  the  late  President  Madero 
viewed  with  indifference  the  ill-concealed  alliance  of  the 
United  States  with  his  enemies  or  the  unfriendly  attitude 
of  President  Taft.  Indeed,  from  the  day  of  his  accession 
to  the  presidency  he  regarded  United  States  intervention 
in  Mexico  as  a  daily  probability,  and  he  shaped  his  for- 
eign policy  accordingly. 

FORCED   MADERO  TO   JAPAN 

1 '  No  more  severe  criticism  of  the  short-sighted  policy 
of  the  United  States  toward  Mexico  could  be  made  than 


THE  REAL  CAUSES  OF  THE  TROUBLE    179 

is  to  be  found  in  the  simple  fact  that  Francisco  Madero 
in  order  to  checkmate  that  policy  was  compelled  to  throw 
himself  into  the  arms  of  Japan. 

"Not  only  did  Madero  enlist  the  ardent  support  of 
the  South  American  republics  in  the  cause  of  Mexico's 
inviolability,  but  he  entered  into  negotiations  with  the 
Japanese  minister  in  Mexico  City  for  a  close  offensive 
and  defensive  alliance  with  Japan  to  checkmate  United 
States  aggression. 

"The  consummation  of  these  negotiations  undoubt- 
edly was  prevented  only  by  the  cuartelazo  of  Felix  Diaz. 
How  far  they  had  progressed  may  be  gleaned  from  an 
incident  related  by  one  who  was  the  intimate  friend  and 
confidential  adviser  of  Madero  throughout  his  political 
career. 

SECKET  ALLIANCE   FOKMED 

"When,  during  the  fateful  twelve  days'  battle  in 
Mexico  City,  a  rumor  of  American  intervention  more 
alarming  than  usual  was  communicated  to  Madero,  he 
replied  coldly  that  he  was  thoroughly  anxious  for  that 
intervention,  for  he  was  confident  of  the  surprise  the 
American  government  would  receive  in  discovering  it 
had  to  deal  with  Japan. 

"Such  an  alliance  would  have  been  fraught  with  in- 
finite disaster  to  the  Mexican  people.  Japan,  in  return 
for  her  protection,  must  have  demanded  inevitably  and 
received  not  only  large  land  concessions  but  full  economic 
privileges  for  her  subjects  in  Mexico. 

"Japanese  immigration  on  a  vast  scale  would  have 
followed,  and  the  Mexican  people  would  have  found  them- 
selves quietly  inundated,  dispossessed  and  finally  econom- 


180 


THE  REAL  CAUSES  OF  THE  TROUBLE 


ically  controlled  by  an  aggressive  alien  race  irresistibly 
competent  in  arms  and  commerce. 

"The  fact  that  the  Mexican  common  people  indorse 
this  policy  of  Madero  and  prefer  to  encounter  the  mani- 
fest evils  of  a  Japanese  alliance  rather  than  retain  the 
integrity  of  their  country  under  the  sufferance  of  the 
United  States  shows  to  what  disastrous  extremes  the 
policy  of  the  American  plutocracy  has  driven  them." 


PACIFICATION  A  LONG  JOB. 


CHAPTER  XV 
A  FEW  SIDELIGHTS  ON  ZAPATA 

SIDELIGHTS    ON"    EMILIANO    ZAPATA    WHO    HAS    KEPT    MEXICO 

GUESSING   SINCE    THE    MADERO   EEVOLUTION    SUCCEEDED 

KNOWN    AS   THE    "  BLOODY   ATILLA   OF   THE   SOUTH' ' ZA- 

PATISATS  SUPPOSED  TO  HAVE  TAKEN  A  PRICE  TO  LAY  DOWN 
THEIR  ARMS — THE  LEADER  CALLED  A  BRIGAND. 

JOHN  A.  AVIRETTE,  who  traveled  all  over  Mexico, 
is  one  of  the  men  best  entitled  to  be  heard  on  the 
subject  of  Zapata  and  his  campaigns. 
Emiliano  Zapata  has  been  in  the  field  with  varying 
activity  ever  since  the  Madero  regime  came  to  an  end,  and 
he  is  variously  referred  to  as  the  " bloody  brigand"  or 
"Atillaof  the  South." 

Mr.  Avirette  left  Mexico  City  by  train  to  get  a  glimpse 
of  the  Zapatistas  on  the  Western  edge  of  the  Mexican 
tableland.  He  traveled  with  General  Ambrosio  Figerio, 
governor  of  the  state  of  Morelos.  His  conversation  with 
General  Figerio  is  illuminating.  It  is  given  in  Mr.  Avi- 
rette 's  own  language: 


"I  engaged  the  General  in  conversation  and  found 
that  he  was  a  very  intelligent  man,  as  well  as  possessed 

181 


182  A  FEW  SIDELIGHTS  ON  ZAPATA 

of  a  frank  and  charming  manner.  We  swapped  soldier 
yarns,  and  then  I  steered  the  talk  around  to  the  Zapatist 
revolution.  Here  the  General  gave  me  an  absolute  sur- 
prise, for  he  said:  'Emiliano  Zapata  is  not  the  blood- 
thirsty bandit  that  the  property-owning  class  affect  to 
believe.  He  is  full  of  ideals  and  believes  in  himself  and 
his  cause  as  strongly  as  Madero  formerly  believed  in  his. 
The  people  of  his  State  are  with  him  to  a  man,  and  the 
suppression  of  Zapatism  is  a  giant's  job.' 

"Why,  General,"  said  I,  surprised,  "I  thought  you 
and  he  were  bitter  personal  enemies.  It  is  so  reported  in 
the  city." 

a  <The  report  is  correct,'  said  the  General  grimly. 
'I  fight  my  enemies  and  do  not  lie  about  them.  I  leave 
that  to  the  political  scum  of  the  city.'  " 

"What  is  the  real  reason  that  Zapata  is  in  arms?"  I 
now  asked. 

WHY  ZAPATA  TOOK  UP  AKMS 

"  'His  reasons  are  mixed,  like  those  of  most  men,' 
was  the  answer.  'Zapata  wanted  to  become  Governor  of 
the  State  that  he  wrested  from  the  Diaz  crowd.  When 
this  was  denied  him,  he  became  angered.  Now,  while  his 
prime  motive  is  defeated — personal  ambition,  there  is 
no  doubt  whatever  that  the  man  really  desires  that  the 
lands  of  the  Indian  Poblanos  (village  dwellers)  be  re- 
turned to  them.  The  great  land  barons  of  this  country 
are  at  heart  the  same  predatory  rich  that  you  have  in 
your  own,  and  their  consciences  are  not  overly  worn 
with  use.  Under  the  Spanish  viceroys  a  certain  village 
would  own,  communally,  all  the  lands  within  a  league  of 
the  church  door.    These  lands  have  fallen  gradually  into 


A  FEW  SIDELIGHTS  ON  ZAPATA  183 

the  hands  of  the  moneyed  class,  by  rightful  and  proper 
purchase  in  some  instances,  through  legal  chicanery  in 
others.  The  unschooled  Indians  were  often  induced  to 
sign  legal  documents  on  some  pretext — documents  that 
they  could  not  read  or  understand — then  were  later  told 
that  they  had  signed  away  their  property  rights.  With  a 
potentially  brave  people  this  can  have  but  one  outcome 
in  the  long  run.' 

AMONG  THE  KED  SHIRTS 

"When  we  puffed  into  Tres  Marias,  on  the  summit, 
I  saw  the  first  physical  fringe  of  the  revolution.  Two 
hundred  of  the  Guerrero  volunteers,  who  are  nicknamed 
the  'Colorados'  (Eeds),  were  lined  up  to  do  honor  to  the 
General,  who  was  their  commander-in-chief.  As  I  saw 
their  brilliant  red  shirts,  I  understood  that  they  were 
not  named  from  their  red  deeds,  but  because  of  their  red 
shirts.  The  General  explained  to  me  that  he  had  uni- 
formed his  men  in  this  manner  to  keep  other  bodies  of 
soldiery  from  shooting  into  them.  'They  are  all  pure 
Indians,'  said  he,  'and  at  first  the  rurales  and  line  sol- 
diers used  to  take  them  for  Zapatistas.  After  losing  men 
this  way,  I  gave  them  the  red  shirt — of  which  they  are 
very  proud. ' 

"As  the  train  pulled  out  for  the  long  downhill  run  to 
Cuernavaca,  some  one  ran  out  on  the  track  behind  us 
and  shouted  and  gesticulated. 

"What  is  it,  General ?"  I  asked. 

' '  '  The  Zapatistas,  are  somewhere  on  the  downhill  line, 
between  here  and  Cuernavaca, '  he  replied, '  and  as  I  have 
only  four  guards  on  the  train,  they  may  get  after  me. ' 


184  A  FEW  SIDELIGHTS  ON  ZAPATA 

"This  was  serious  news.  If  General  Figerio  fell  into 
their  hands  he  would  get  short  shrift.  I  myself  was 
dressed  in  khaki,  and  if  the  train  were  held  up  in  some 
deep  cut  of  these  terrible  lava  flows,  I  was  more  than  cer- 
tain to  be  mistaken  for  a  Governor  and  filled  with  lead. 
After  pleasantly  chewing  on  this  cud  for  a  few  minutes, 
I  asked  the  General  if  he  had  a  spare  rifle  and  an  extra 
belt  of  cartridges. 

<  <  He  grinned  appreciatively  and  passed  over  the  mili- 
f a  ty  flute  and  a  few  notes — I  guess  the  belt  held  not  less 
than  fifty  shining  Mauser  cartridges.  After  I  got  hold 
of  the  rifle  I  felt  better. 

SOAKED  A  MEXICAN  DUDE 

"The  travel  in  our  coach  was  very  light,  only  eleven 
persons  in  the  car.  Cars  bound  for  Mexico  City  would 
be  jammed  full  of  anxious  haciendados  and  their  fami- 
lies-— fleeing  from  the  wrath  to  come.  With  us  were  two 
German-looking  young  ladies,  a  diminutive  and  oiled 
darling  of  a  Mexican  dude,  a  native  newspaper  corres- 
pondent, the  General 's  aid,  the  General,  myself  and  the 
four  soldiers. 

"About  this  time  he-of-the-oiled-locks  was  the  most 
important  figure  on  the  scene,  and  was  really  doing  him- 
self proud.  He  preened  his  fine  feathers,  cooed  and 
strutted.  But  when  we  seven  potential  fighters  opened 
the  car  windows  and  began  building  bullet-stopping  bar- 
ricades out  of  the  cushions  of  the  car  seats,  Adonis  im- 
mediately had  a  serious  change  of  face. 

"  'What  was  the  trouble — were  we  to  be  attacked?'  he 
asked.  The  General  said  dryly  that  it  was  very  likely. 
At  this  brutal  speech,  poor  Adonis  went  all  white,  then 


A  FEW  SIDELIGHTS  ON  ZAPATA  185 

remembering  that  the  ladies  would  think  ill  of  his  courage 
if  he  showed  any  diminution  of  gallantry,  he  rallied  and 
offered  valiantly  to  protect  them.  The  more  humorous- 
eyed  of  the  young  ladies  forgot  her  alarm  at  the  ludicrous 
appearance  of  the  strutting  little  midget,  and  broke  into 
laughter. 

MADE  THE  LADY  LAUGH 

"I  was  grateful  to  her  for  that  laugh.  It  was  just 
what  I  needed ;  for  I  had  been  a  bit  nervous  myself.  The 
four  soldiers  were  stolidly  impassive,  and  were  evidently 
picked  men.    The  General  positively  shone. 

A  NERVY  ENGINEER 

"The  American  conductor  on  our  train  was  just 
what  the  doctor  ordered.  He  pushed  his  train  down 
the  hill  ahead  of  time  and  told  his  engineer  to  keep 
his  whistle  quiet.  He  got  into  the  little  station  on 
the  half-way  turn  of  the  hill  twelve  minutes  ahead  of 
time,  and  I  am  positive  because  of  this  good  headwork 
we  escaped  actual  attack.  The  train  slid  rapidly  down 
the  long  hill  with  but  little  noise,  shot  out  around  the 
sharp  curve  near  the  station,  and  was  gone  before  the 
surprised  enemy  had  a  chance  to  collect  their  wits.  The 
Zapatistas  had  counted  on  the  train  stopping,  as  usual, 
on  schedule  time.  They  were  so  dumfounded  at  a  train 
that  wouldn't  whistle  that  they  did  not  fire  a  shot  at  us, 
and  we  skidded  around  the  next  curve,  and  out  of  sight. 
I  remember  wondering  if  the  engineer  would  be  able  to 
hold  his  train  on  that  grade  and  at  that  pace — but  he  did 
it.    As  we  slowed  up,  some  two  thousand  yards  farther 


186 


A  FEW  SIDELIGHTS  ON  ZAPATA 


down,  one  of  the  Zapatistas  took  a  pot-shot  at  us.  They 
are  not  good  marksmen  as  a  rule,  even  under  the  most 
favorable  circumstances;  so  the  fellow  probably  hit  the 
State  of  Morelos  in  a  safe  place — some  half  mile  behind 
us. 

SALGADO  *S  DOUBLE  DEALING 


"When  the  conductor  had  been  offered  a  colonelcy  in 
the  Eurales,  and  all  the  seats  put  back  in  their  right 
places,  we  became  normal  once  more.  The  General  told 
me  that  he  was  going  to  resign  his  governorship  at  once, 
so  that  he  could  take  the  field  against  Salgado.  Jesus 
Salgado  is  a  colonel  of  volunteers,  who  first  rose  in  arms 
to  aid  the  cause  of  Madero  against  General  Porfirio  Diaz. 
He  was  an  impartial  man  evidently,  for  he  then  rose 
against  Madero  and  '  pronounced '  in  favor  of  Zapata. 
This  time  he  was  captured,  foot,  horse,  and  dragoons, 
by  General  Figerio  himself,  who  pardoned  him  and  his 
men  and  restored  them  to  their  first  status  as  bona  fide 
Maderists.  But  later,  while  in  garrison  at  Taxco,  Sal- 
gado again  deserted  and  took  up  battle  for  Zapata.  As 
the  General  had  stood  sponsor  for  Salgado,  guarantee- 
ing his  future  good  conduct  to  Madero,  he  was  naturally 
very  angry  at  the  defection  and  treachery.  He  assured 
me  that  he  would  rest  neither  day  nor  night  until  he  had 
Salgado  facing  a  firing  squad  behind  some  village  church. 

"The  General  left  us  at  Cuernavaca,  and  somewhat 
later  I  alighted  at  Puente  de  Ixtla." 


CHAPTER  XVI 

CAERANZA  TURNS  ABOUT 

ranza's  efforts  to  block  mediat 
states  government  finds  former  adherent  of  ameri- 
can policy  unwilling  to  agree — villa 's  statements 
of  intent  to  adhere  to  american  program  despite  car- 
ranza  doubted — complications  that  made  the  media- 
tion program  a  difficult  one. 

BEFORE  efforts  at  mediation  in  the  United  States — 
Mexican  difficulty  had  proceeded  far,  it  was  found 
that  the  devious  methods  of  the  Constitutionalist 
leader,  Carranza,  were  likely  to  prove  a  dangerous  ob- 
stacle to  any  effective  agreement. 

It  became  known  immediately  after  General  Huerta 
had  announced  his  acceptance  of  the  offer  of  mediation 
made  by  Argentine,  Brazil  and  Chili,  that  Carranza 
would  interpose  objections  to  the  plan  because  it  would 
involve  a  compromise  with  Huerta,  whose  pretensions 
Carranza  declared  did  not  entitle  him  to  the  dignity  of 
such  recognition. 

CARRANZA  BLOCKS   NEGOTIATIONS 

Carranza 's  answer  to  the  diplomatic  note  of  the  three 
governments  asking  him  to  subscribe  to  the  mediation 

187 


188         CARRANZA  TURNS  ABOUT 

plan  drew  forth  a  reply  which  declared  that  the  Con- 
stitutionalist chief  "was  not  inclined  to  give  countenance 
to  a  proposal  which  would  strengthen  the  position  of 
Huerta." 

Simultaneously  it  was  announced  that  the  United 
States  government  anticipated  a  probable  abandonment 
of  Carranza  by  his  first  lieutenant,  "Pancho"  Villa,  in 
case  that  Carranza  persisted  in  efforts  to  embarrass  the 
negotiations. 

Assertions  declared  to  be  based  on  authentic  informa- 
tion were  telegraphed  from  Washington  on  April  29,  to 
the  effect  that  Villa  had  made  a  proposition  to  Washing- 
ton with  regard  to  the  use  of  his  forces  against  Huerta 
and  "all  who  opposed  the  peaceful  mission  of  the  United 
States. ' '  Other  statements  said  to  emanate  from  Villa 's 
camp  direct  gave  the  lie  to  these  sanguine  dispatches  and 
insisted  that  Villa  had  rejected  tentative  overtures  from 
American  governmental  sources — that  he  would  fight  un- 
der Carranza  as  he  had  done  in  the  past  and  would  resist 
any  American  invasion  of  Mexican  territory. 

ADMINISTEATION   KEPT  SILENCE 

No  authoritative  pronouncements  on  the  subject  were 
to  be  obtained  from  administration  sources  but  it  was 
generally  credited  that  the  government  had  encountered 
a  serious  obstacle  to  smooth  working  of  the  mediation 
plan. 

The  plan  itself  was: 

That  the  United  States  drop  all  military  movements 
directed  toward  Mexico. 

That  Huerta  cease  all  military  movements  of  what- 
ever character,  either  against  the  United  States  or  the 
Constitutionalists. 


CARRANZA  TURNS  ABOUT         189 

That  Huerta,  Carranza  and  Zapata  be  requested  to 
designate  representatives  to  confer  on  ways  and  means 
to  bring  an  end  to  the  strife  among  the  Mexican  people. 

Such  a  conference,  it  was  recognized,  would  necessi- 
tate at  least  a  temporary  suspension  of  hostilities.  It 
was  the  same  plan,  in  effect,  as  that  which  had  been  sub- 
mitted by  President  Wilson  six  months  previously  in  his 
special  instructions  to  Commissioner  John  Lind,  wherein 
it  was  stated  that  a  satisfactory  settlement  seemed  to  be 
conditioned,  among  other  things,  on  ' '  an  immediate  cessa- 
tion of  fighting  throughout  Mexico,  and  a  definite  armis- 
tice, solemnly  entered  into  and  scrupulously  observed." 

The  United  States,  to  show  the  entire  willingness  of 
its  government  to  stop  warlike  operations,  instructed 
Eear  Admiral  Fletcher  and  Brigadier  General  Funston 
not  to  advance  the  lines  occupied  by  their  forces.  Eear 
Admiral  Mayo  was  also  ordered  to  withdraw  his  squadron 
from  Tampico. 


Up  to  the  beginning  of  the  mediation  negotiations 
General  Huerta  had  not  been  guilty  of  overt  acts  against 
Americans  other  than  the  firing  by  his  soldiers  upon  the 
American  patrol  at  Laredo.  Also  General  Maas  at  Vera 
Cruz  merely  resisted  the  landing  and  advance  of  Ameri- 
can marines  through  the  streets  of  that  city. 

But  with  Carranza  a  more  serious  situation  devel- 
oped. Carranza  realized  that  peace  between  the  United 
States  and  Huerta  would  be  to  his  disadvantage.  It  was 
recognized  that  he  was  making  desperate  efforts  to  cap- 
ture and  hold  Tampico  in  order  that  he  might  be  able  to 
secure  arms  and  ammunition  from  Europe.    The  wily 


190         CARRANZA  TURNS  ABOUT 

chief  of  the  Constitutionalists,  while  he  admitted  that 
the  success  of  the  Constitutionalist  cause  up  to  the  time 
mediation  was  proposed  was  due  largely  to  the  aid  and 
countenance  of  the  United  States,  declared  that  he  con- 
sidered the  aid  of  the  American  government  less  vital  in 
the  mediation  stage  than  it  had  been  when  he  was  penned 
up  in  Sonora.  Peace  between  the  United  States  and 
Huerta,  he  declared,  would  not  benefit  him,  and  he  con- 
sidered it  his  duty  to  act  with  all  possible  expedition  in 
order  that  when  Huerta  became  ready  to  resume  fighting, 
he  would  be  compelled  to  take  the  offensive  while  the 
Constitutionalists  could  assume  the  defensive. 

BOTH  HOSTILE  TO  AMEKICA 

The  belief  in  administration  circles  was  that  in  case 
mediation  failed  both  Huerta  and  Carranza  would  fight 
against  the  United  States. 

In  Huerta 's  note  of  acceptance  addressed  to  the  rep- 
resentatives of  the  A,  B,  C  governments,  he  said  that  his 
willingness  to  listen  to  mediation  proposals  was  due  to 
"the  ties  of  blood  uniting  Mexico  with  the  rest  of  Latin 
America.' '  Under  the  circumstances,  he  deemed  it  ad- 
visable to  listen  to  the  suggestions  for  peace. 

The  full  text  of  the  note  was  not  made  public  by  the 
negotiators,  but  it  was  declared  that  Huerta  h^d  referred 
to  "the  unprovoked  attack  made  by  the  United  States 
upon  the  sovereignty  and  territory  of  Mexico' '  and  indi- 
cated that  it  was  a  matter  concerning  not  only  Mexico  but 
all  the  other  Latin  American  countries.  He  added  that  he 
was  convinced  the  interests  of  Mexico  would  not  be  sacri- 
ficed by  the  negotiations. 


CARRANZA  TURNS  ABOUT         191 

huerta 's  counter  proposals 

It  also  became  known  that  Huerta  had  suggested  the 
propriety  of  inviting  Great  Britain,  Germany  and  Spain, 
three  European  countries  which  had  recognized  him,  to 
officially  participate  in  the  mediation  proceedings. 
Huerta  urged  that  the  six  representatives  thus  provided 
should  select  the  representative  of  another  and  neutral 
power  to  act  as  referee  in  the  dispute. 

At  this  stage  of  the  negotiations  it  was  pointed  out 
by  a  cabinet  officer  that  General  Huerta  had  really  not 
much  left  to  mediate,  since  the  United  States  held  Vera 
Cruz,  his  only  eastern  seaport  which  had  not  been  cut 
off  from  Mexico  City  by  the  Constitutionalists.  Villa,  it 
was  asserted,  was  ready  to  move  on  Mexico  City  immedi- 
ately, Zapata  was  harassing  the  Federalist  forces  in  the 
South  and  Huerta  lay  between  three  fires.  He  dared  not 
deflect  too  many  of  his  men  from  the  route  between  Mex- 
ico City  and  Vera  Cruz  because  of  his  fear  of  a  sudden 
attack  by  the  United  States.  A  sidelight  on  the  seizure 
of  Vera  Cruz  was  shed  by  the  further  statement  that  no 
attack  would  have  been  ordered  except  that  knowledge 
reached  the  Washington  authorities  of  a  cargo  of  arms 
and  ammunition  aboard  the  Ypiranga  sufficient  to  have 
enabled  Huerta  to  prolong  his  resistance  for  several 
weeks  or  even  months.  It  was  the  prospect  of  Huerta 's 
gaining  15,000,000  rounds  of  ammunition  and  240  rapid 
fire  guns  that  caused  the  orders  to  seize  Vera  Cruz  and 
prevent  the  landing  of  Ypiranga 's  cargo. 

VILLA  WARNED  HIS  MEN 

On  the  evening  of  April  29  it  was  credited  in  Wash- 
ington that  Villa  had  told  his  men  to  guard  against  any 


192         CARRANZA  TURNS  ABOUT 

overt  act  against  Americans,  adding  that  if  the  Consti- 
tutionalists should  break  with  the  United  States  the 
northern  states  of  Mexico  would  be  the  first  territory 
seized  by  the  American  forces,  whereas  friendliness  with 
the  United  States  assured  the  retention  by  the  Constitu- 
tionalists of  all  lands  they  had  conquered. 

NEIGHBORLY  CONFIDENCE 

The  tales  of  violence  to  Americans,  and  the  destruc- 
tion of  their  property,  that  came  from  all  parts  of  Mexico 
conveyed  far  more  than  a  disregard  for  human  rights  on 
the  part  of  some  Mexicans.  It  is  not  natural  for  any  man 
to  quarrel  with  a  friendly  neighbor.  Americans  have 
been  in  Mexico,  but  not  of  Mexico.  They  have  gone  there 
for  the  purpose  of  exploiting  the  country.  They  have 
bargained  with  those  who  exploited  the  Mexicans  before 
them,  they  have  fraternized  with  them,  and  they  have  in 
every  way  held  themselves  aloof  from  the  people  at  large. 
They  have  received  big  wages  in  companies  that  have 
paid  big  dividends,  while  the  peon  has  continued  to  live 
at  the  point  of  bare  subsistence.  The  time  of  reckoning 
came.  The  revolution  pitted  the  peon  against  the  aristo- 
crat ;  and  the  moment  civil  authority  was  withdrawn,  the 
stored-up  wrath  of  the  despised  laborer  was  visited  upon 
the  head  of  the  arrogant  foreigner.  Those  who  would 
receive  justice  in  time  of  strife  should  accord  justice  in 
time  of  peace, 


CHAPTER  XVII 
WHY  MEXICANS  DISLIKE  AMERICANS 

THE  INBORN  HATRED  FOR  A  "  GRINGO  " — WHY  MEXICANS  DIS- 
LIKE AMERICANS — WE  FEEL  OURSELVES  SUPERIOR  AND 
SHOW  IT — THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE  CONSIDERED  ARROGANT 
— CALL  US  LAND  PIRATES. 

THERE  is  no  disguising  the  fact  that  Mexicans  do 
not  like  Americans.  This  is  particularly  true  of 
the  educated  class  which  has  most  to  lose  from  pos- 
sible outside  interference  with  the  tenure  of  their  land. 
The  Latin  is  by  nature  ceremonious.  The  Anglo- 
Saxon  is  by  nature  abrupt.  The  two  manners  do  not 
assimilate  and  the  natures  of  the  two  peoples  are  as 
different  as  their  manners.  For  instance,  the  Latin,  if 
he  ever  forgets  his  polite  habits  long  enough  to  be  frank 
with  an  American,  will  tell  him  that  he  objects  to  the  atti- 
tude which  assumes  American  civilization  to  be  superior 
to  any  other  civilization  on  the  face  of  the  globe,  and  he 
abhors  the  spread-eagleism  of  the  Yankee  traveler. 

AMERICANS   TOO   HIGH-HANDED 

A  good  many  Americans  who  have  gone  into  Mexico 
with  the  avowed  object  of  showing  the  " greasers"  how 
to  run  a  country,  how  to  develop  the  resources  of  Mexico, 

209 


210  WHY  MEXICANS  DISLIKE  AMERICANS 

and  how  to  establish  a  stable  government,  are  not  of  the 
type  most  flattering  to  the  nation  they  represent,  and 
many  of  them  fail  in  their  private  enterprises,  a  matter 
of  no  heartfelt  sorrow  on  the  part  of  the  Mexican. 

In  Mexico  all  men  with  money  to  spend  are  classed  as 
representative  Americans.  Anything  said  by  a  "repre- 
sentative American"  that  is  considered  discourteous 
from  the  Mexican  point  of  view,  rankles  and  grows  in 
importance  as  time  elapses,  instead  of  being  forgotten 
the  next  day  as  is  the  common  habit  among  less  punc- 
tilious races. 

One  trait  of  Mexican  character  that  oppresses  the 
hurry-up  American  is  his  devotion  to  the  siesta.  The 
American  business  man  desiring  to  do  business  with  Mex- 
icans who  begins  by  trying  to  abolish  the  siesta  finds  him- 
self in  difficulties  at  once.  It  is  just  as  much  a  part  of 
Mexican  life  to  lie  down  in  the  afternoon  as  it  is  a  part  of 
American  life  to  go  to  bed  at  night. 

NO   CONSIDEKATION  FOE  CUSTOMS 

The  only  successes  made  by  Americans  in  Mexico  have 
been  made  as  the  result  of  consideration  for  Mexican 
habits  and  customs  which  are  as  fixed  and  immutable  as 
the  laws  of  the  Medes  and  Persians.  At  least  it  is  certain 
that  they  cannot  be  changed  in  a  day  or  a  year  or  even 
a  century. 

The  American's  effort  to  reform  everything  he* comes 
in  contact  with  is  a  constant  source  of  complaint  against 
the  inhabitants  of  the  Northern  republic.  The  Mexican 
is  apt  to  tell  you,  if  you  succeed  in  gaining  his  confidence, 
that  the  American  visitor  will  attempt  to  reform  his 
housekeeping  methods  for  him  fifteen  minutes  after  the 


WHY  MEXICANS  DISLIKE  AMERICANS  211 

introductions  have  taken  place.  And  if  the  Mexican 
wants  to  be  nasty  about  it,  which  he  seldom  does,  he  will 
contrast  his  own  housekeeping  methods  with  those  of  the 
American's  he  has  visited  in  his  travels,  quite  to  the  dis- 
advantage of  the  latter. 

ENGLISH  ARE  MORE  CAREFUL 

The  English,  even  more  brusque  than  Americans  by 
national  habit,  soften  their  methods  of  address  when 
dealing  with  Mexicans,  and  by  longer  experience  in  trad- 
ing with  Latin  races,  perhaps,  manage  to  avoid  giving 
the  offense  that  the  American  often  does  give. 

But  aside  from  the  conditions  above  mentioned  there 
are  racial  antagonisms  that  are  extremely  difficult  to 
reconcile.  The  American  as  well  as  the  Englishman  and 
German  are  considered  by  Mexicans  and  for  that  matter 
by  other  Latin  races  to  be  lacking  in  the  ordinary  ob- 
servances of  polite  society.  The  Mexicans  delight  in 
metaphor.  The  American  believes  in  going  straight  to 
the  point.  The  Mexicans  delight  in  composing  graceful 
sentences.  The  American  is  blunt.  In  short  we  are  dif- 
ferent in  every  way  from  the  Mexican  and  he  hates  us  for 
it.  We  are  different  in  every  way  from  the  Mexican  and 
we  hate  him  for  it. 

NO  USE  FOR  SKYSCRAPERS 

When  Americans  point  with  pride  to  the  skyscraper 
cities  of  their  immense  country,  the  Mexicans  shrug  dep- 
recatingly  and  whisper  of  Paris,  Berlin,  London  or  Mad- 
rid. The  traveled  class  is  well  versed  in  knowledge  of 
European  cities  and  they  consider  American  efforts  to 
excel  as  city  builders  with  pitying  shrugs. 


212  WHY  MEXICANS  DISLIKE  AMERICANS 

American  governmental  representatives  in  Mexico 
have  been  unfortunate  in  failing  to  secure  the  good  will 
of  the  people  to  whom  they  were  accredited.  It  is  com- 
mon enough  to  hear  the  complete  record  of  a  political 
appointee  to  consular  duty  discussed  in  a  Mexican  club, 
for  the  punctilio  of  the  country  demands  that  Mexican 
gentlemen  shall  know  something  of  the  social  standing 
at  home  of  the  representatives  sent  them  by  the  United 
States. 

Of  course  the  Mexicans  hate  Americans  because  of 
Texas.  The  loss  of  Texas  was  a  hard  blow  to  Mexico  and 
the  United  States  is  blamed  for  that  without  a  possibility 
of  any  change  in  this  conviction  of  American  guilt. 

TOOK  ADVANTAGE   OF   WAR 

The  Mexicans  say  that  we  took  advantage  of  the  diffi- 
culties of  Mexico  in  the  war  of  1847  and  conquered  her 
because  at  the  time  she  was  divided  against  herself.  Not 
only  are  Americans  accused  of  having  been  the  evil  genii 
of  Mexico  in  the  past,  but  the  protestations  made  by 
President  Wilson  of  American  good  faith  meet  with  only 
incredulous  smiles  from  men  who  have  learned  the  story 
of  Texas  from  Mexican  instruction. 

Throughout  the  republic  it  is  believed  that  America 
covets  Lower  California  and  is  only  deterred  from  a  cam- 
paign of  invasion  through  fear  of  foreign  complications. 

Throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  Mexican 
Republic  belief  is  rampant  that  Americans  are  exploit- 
ing them  and  their  country.  They  do  not  take  kindly  to 
the  ownership  of  so  many  of  their  sources  of  wealth  by 
American  capitalists.  For  this  condition  of  affairs  they 
blame  Porforio  Diaz. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 
EVENTS  IN  MEXICO 


• 


STIRRING  EVENTS   SINCE  THE  RETIREMENT   OF  DIAZ THE  IN- 
SIDE    STORY     OF      MADERO'S     ASSASSINATION SECRET     OF 

HUERTA 's  POPULARITY  WITH  THE  MASSES — CONSIDERED 
A  BRAVE  MAN  PERSONALLY  AND  IDOLIZED  BY  THE  MILITARY 
FORCES — RECENT  HISTORY. 


THE  secret  of  General  Huerta 's  popularity  with  the 
soldiers  of  Mexico  was  a  widespread  faith  that 
existed  long  before  he  became  dictator,  in  the  gen- 
eral's fearlessness  and  wisdom.  His  defiance  of  the 
United  States  greatly  strengthened  his  hold  on  the  imag- 
ination of  the  people.  It  was  frequently  to  be  heard  dur- 
ing negotiations  that  followed  Special  Commissioner 
John  Lind's  arrival  in  Mexico  that  Huerta  would  both 
outwit  and  outright  the  United  States  as  became  neces- 
sary. 

In  order  to  understand  Huerta 's  hold  on  the  Mex- 
icans it  is  perhaps  as  well  to  review  the  events  of  prin- 
cipal importance  in  Mexico  since  1876  when  General 
Porfirio  Diaz  became  president  and  established  order 
after  fifty  years  of  continuous  revolution. 

Diaz  was  a  disciple  of  Benito  Juarez,  the  Mexican 
patriot.  He  took  a  foremost  part  in  defeating  the  forces 
of  Maximilian.    In  1872,  after  the  death  of  Juarez,  he 

213 


214  EVENTS  IN  MEXICO 

headed  a  revolution  against  Lerda  de  Tejada.  Defeated, 
and  compelled  to  seek  refuge  in  the  United  States,  Diaz 
returned  to  Mexico  in  1876,  and  raised  an  army  in 
Oaxaca.  Sweeping  away  opposition,  he  marched  to  the 
capital  and  assumed  the  presidency.  When  installed, 
his  power  became  supreme,  and  he  ruled  Mexico  until 
1911.  Surrounded  by  able  men,  Diaz  succeeded  in  estab- 
lishing a  military  dictatorship  under  the  forms  of  dem- 
ocracy. 

MADERO  BECAME  A  CANDIDATE 

In  1910  Don  Francisco  Madero  astonished  Mexico  by 
appearing  as  a  presidential  candidate  in  opposition  to 
Diaz.  He  was  of  one  of  the  wealthiest  Mexican  families. 
In  appearance  he  was  a  timid-looking  man;  but  when- 
ever he  spoke  he  convinced  his  hearers  that  he  had 
courage. 

Madero  introduced  American  electioneering  methods. 
He  travelled  delivering  speeches,  and  openly  denounced 
the  Diaz  administration.  This  plain  speaking  gave  him 
a  large  following,  and  it  stirred  the  Diaz  government 
into  activity.  While  speech-making  at  Monterey  in 
northern  Mexico,  Madero  was  arrested  on  a  charge  of 
sedition.  He  was  sent  to  the  state  prison  at  San  Luis 
Potosi,  but  after  remaining  there  for  a  short  time  he  was 
released. 

DENOUNCED  SENOR  LIMANTOUR 

In  January,  1911,  Madero  issued  a  proclamation  in 
Chihuahua  denouncing  Diaz  and  calling  for  the  over- 
throw of  the  tyrant's  rule.    He  made  charges  of  corrup- 


EVENTS  IN  MEXICO 


215 


K'^^^^fA 


A  MEXICAN  CARTOON  OF  JOHN  LIND. 


216  EVENTS  IN  MEXICO 

tion  against  Seiior  Limantour,  the  Minister  of  Finance, 
and  other  members  of  the  cabinet.  Madero 's  promises 
of  free  land  and  high  wages  were  sufficient  to  start  a 
revolution  in  northern  Mexico,  and  to  incite  the  ignorant 
peons  and  cow-punchers. 

After  the  capture  of  Juarez  by  the  revolutionists, 
Diaz  endeavored  to  make  terms  with  Madero,  but  the 
latter  insisted  on  the  dictator's  retirement  as  the  first 
step  towards  the  establishment  of  peace. 

At  last,  Diaz's  own  cabinet  urged  him  to  resign,  and 
the  veteran  ruler,  anxious  to  prevent  any  further  blood- 
shed, agreed.  A  treaty  was  signed  and  it  was  agreed 
that  Seiior  Francisco  de  la  Barra  should  be  Provisional 
President  until  a  successor  was  elected.  On  May  25, 
General  Diaz  left  the  capital,  and  a  few  days  later,  ac- 
companied by  his  family,  he  embarked  on  a  German 
steamer  and  sailed  for  Europe. 

MADEEO  HAILED  AS  LIBERATOR 

On  June  7,  1911,  Madero  entered  the  capital  and  was 
hailed  as  the  liberator  of  Mexico.  Four  months  later  he 
was  elected  President.  His  election,  however,  failed  to 
restore  peace.  Having  assisted  in  inciting  and  arming 
a  horde  of  bandits  and  half-civilized  Indian  peons,  he 
was  destined  to  suffer  the  results.  Several  revolution- 
ist leaders  refused  to  recognize  his  government;  insur- 
rections broke  out  again  in  northern  Mexico,  and  the 
Federal  troops  were  powerless  to  check  them.  Zapata 
and  other  bandits  continued  their  work  of  slaughter  and 
destruction. 

Madero  formed  a  cabinet  composed  of  men  who  en- 
deavored to  make  plans  for  improving  the  condition  of 


EVENTS  IN  MEXICO  217 

the  people ;  but  the  work  was  slow  and  was  hindered  by- 
insurrections,  which  taxed  all  the  resources  of  the  gov- 
ernment. In  March,  1912,  General  Orozco  headed  an 
anti-Maderista  revolution  in  Chihuahua,  having  turned 
against  his  former  associate. 

On  February  18,  at  a  special  session  of  the  Senate,  a 
resolution  was  adopted,  declaring  President  Madero  in- 
capable of  holding  office.  The  President's  military 
chiefs,  the  Generals  Huerta  and  Blanquet — officers  of  the 
regular  army — were  ordered  to  stop  the  fighting  and 
arrest  the  President.  They  sent  two  young  officers, 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Eiveroll  and  Colonel  Izquierdo,  to 
Madero,  to  inform  him  of  the  Senate's  decision.  On  re- 
ceiving the  message,  Madero  drew  his  revolver  and  shot 
Eiveroll,  killing  him  instantly,  while  his  aide  shot  and 
killed  Izquierdo.  The  deposed  President  was  arrested 
and  locked  up  in  his  apartments,  under  guard.  In  the 
meantime  an  armistice  had  been  arranged  with  the 
rebels. 

GUSTAVO  MADEEO  SHOT 

The  same  evening,  the  President's  brother,  Gustavo 
Madero,  was  arrested  and  taken  to  the  citadel,  where 
General  Mondragon  was  in  command.  In  retaliation  for 
the  shooting  of  General  Ruiz,  Mondragon  ordered  the 
prisoner  to  be  executed  immediately,  and  was  deaf  to 
all  pleadings. 

When  news  of  the  tragedy  reached  Senora  Madero, 
the  President's  wife,  she  begged  the  authorities  to  send 
her  husband  to  the  State  Penitentiary  for  safety,  fear- 
ing that  he  would  be  assassinated  if  he  remained  at  the 
National  Palace.    At  the  end  of  five  days  her  request 


218 


EVENTS  IN  MEXICO 


EVENTS  IN  MEXICO  219 

was  granted,  and  late  at  night  two  automobiles  left  the 
palace  bound  for  the  penitentiary.  In  one  of  them  rode 
Sehor  Madero  and  in  the  other  the  ex-vice-president, 
Senor  Pino  Suarez.  On  the  way  both  prisoners  were 
shot  and  killed. 

General  Huerta  formed  a  provisional  government 
with  himself  as  President,  and  received  the  support  of 
General  Felix  Diaz  and  his  followers.  Energetic  efforts 
were  made  by  the  new  government  to  restore  order. 
The  diplomatic  representatives  at  the  capital,  with  one 
exception,  agreed  to  recognize  him  as  Provisional  Presi- 
dent. Eecognition  was  withheld  by  President  Wilson, 
pending  an  investigation  which  he  decided  to  make. 

In  July,  1913,  President  Wilson  sent  Mr.  John  Lind 
to  Mexico  City  as  his  confidential  agent,  to  investigate. 
Mr.  Lind  informed  General  Huerta  that  it  was  the  de- 
sire of  the  United  States  government  that  fighting  be- 
tween Federalists  and  revolutionists  should  cease;  that 
an  armistice  should  be  arranged,  and  be  scrupulously 
observed ;  that  a  free  and  early  election  should  take  place 
in  which  all  Mexicans  should  participate  and  be  willing 
to  accept  the  results;  also  that  General  Huerta  should 
agree  not  to  be  a  presidential  candidate.  General  Huerta 
did  not  retire,  and  later,  when  the  elections  took  place 
he  received  a  majority  vote.  It  was  subsequently  de- 
clared that  the  elections  had  been  illegally  conducted. 


huekta's  eemakkable  peksonality 


The  personality  of  General  Huerta  is  interesting.  He 
is  sixty  years  old,  a  native  of  Jalisco  and  of  mixed  In- 
dian and  Spanish  descent.  A  graduate  of  the  Chapulte- 
pec  Military  School,  he  attained  the  rank  of  general 


220  EVENTS  IN  MEXICO 

through  ability,  having  distinguished  himself  in  Indian 
campaigns.  During  the  Madero  revolution  he  supported 
Diaz,  but  afterwards  swore  allegiance  to  the  Madero 
government.  General  Huerta  is  tall  and  athletic.  He 
is  a  man  of  few  words.  When  he  comes  across  any  knot 
he  cuts  it.  Although  a  man  of  strong  will  and  a  strict 
disciplinarian,  he  is  immensely  popular  with  the  army. 
His  personal  bravery  is  unquestioned. 

Of  fifteen  million  Mexicans  less  than  half  a  million 
are  white.  The  mestizos  or  mixed  bloods  constitute 
about  43  per  cent  of  the  population.  To  this  mixed  class 
belong  certain  grades  of  professional  men,  and  also  the 
better  types  of  the  working  population.  From  this  class 
are  drawn  the  great  majority  of  Mexican  voters.  In 
fact,  of  fifteen  million  Mexicans  less  than  twenty  thou- 
sand cast  ballots. 

FIGHTING  FOR  OUR  COUNTRY 

Marion  Letcher,  American  Consul  at  Chihuahua,  esti- 
mates the  American-owned  property  in  Mexico,  including 
all  kinds,  at  $1,057,770,000,  Mexican-owned  property  at 
$793,187,242  and  British-owned  property  at  $321,302,800. 
Are  not  the  Mexicans  straining  a  point  in  making  so  much 
ado  about  their  country? 


CHAPTER  XIX 
WONDERFUL  FERTILITY  OF.  LAND 

MARVELOUS  AGRICULTURAL  POSSIBILITIES — TWO  CROPS  A  YEAR 

IN   COAHUILA BIG  IRRIGATION  PROJECTS  HALTED  BY  THE 

REVOLUTION LAND    DESTINED    TO    BE    ONE    OF    THE    MOST 

PROSPEROUS  AGRICULTURAL  REGIONS  IN  THE  WORLD. 

AGRICULTURE  as  practiced  in  Mexico  is  crude  and 
generations  behind  that  of  the  United  States.  The 
sharpened  stick  and  oxen  still  serve  the  purpose 
of  the  plow.  Only  in  a  few  places  where  the  natives 
have  had  opportunity  to  observe  modern  methods  has 
this  state  of  affairs  been  changed,  and  it  is  safe  to  as- 
sume that  the  methods  of  agriculture,  as  well  as  realiza- 
tion of  the  necessity  for  agriculture,  will  need  years  of 
education. 

The  Mexican  Government,  realizing  the  necessity  of 
becoming  an  agricultural  nation  without  further  delay, 
adopted  the  policy  of  encouraging  immigration  and 
especially  immigration  of  agricultural  people,  and  in 
accordance  with  this  policy  some  years  ago  offered  induce- 
ments for  agricultural  people  in  anticipation  of  coloniz- 
ing with  European  and  American  farmers,  at  least 
enough  of  her  fertile  land  to  educate  her  own  people  to 
the  necessity  of  greater  and  more  modern  agricultural 
methods. 

221 


222  WONDERFUL  FERTILITY  OF  LAND 

An  appropriation  of  $25,000,000  was  made,  which  was 
to  be  expended  in  irrigating  some  of  the  most  fertile 
land  in  the  republic.  There  has  been  expended  $8,000,000 
of  this  amount  in  irrigating  the  valley  of  the  San  Diego 
river  in  the  State  of  Coakuila.  This  valley  runs  in  a 
southwest-northeast  direction  and  merges  into  the 
Eio  Grande  valley.  The  system  of  irrigation  in  use  in 
this  valley  may  be  considered  a  feat  of  engineering  which 
has  scarcely  been  surpassed  in  the  history  of  irrigation. 

GREAT  IRRIGATION  PLANS 

The  San  Diego  Eiver  rises  from  fourteen  or  fifteen 
springs,  and  although  water  for  the  irrigation  of  thou- 
sands of  acres  of  land  is  used,  the  water  supply  has  not 
perceptibly  diminished.  A  dam  has  been  installed,  about 
one  mile  from  the  source  of  the  river,  which  turns  the 
water  into  a  tunnel.  The  water  is  led,  by  means  of  canals, 
syphons,  and  an  immense  tunnel  over  two  miles  in  length, 
and  built  in  a  large  part  through  solid  rock,  to  large 
reservoirs  or  artificial  lakes,  where  it  is  conserved  until 
such  time  as  it  is  necessary  to  irrigate.  The  largest  of 
these  reservoirs  is  San  Miguel  dam,  having  a  capacity; 
of  over  39,000,000  cubic  feet  of  water. 

BIG   ENGINES   GIVE   POWER 

To  complete  what  is  the  most  modern  system  of 
irrigation  in  Mexico  the  surplus  water,  after  passing 
through  the  network  of  canals  and  ditches  which  dis- 
tribute it  to  every  part  of  the  land,  is  combined  into  one 
large  ditch,  and  after  having  been  run  through  a  pipe 
line  several  miles  in  length,  it  is  brought  down  into  a 


WONDERFUL  FERTILITY  OF  LAND 


223 


J/in'osol/ua/vsA 


MEXICAN  CARTOON  DESIGNED  TO  SHOW  THAT  VILLA  AND 
PRESIDENT  WILSON  ARE  BOTH  ON  THE  SAME  LEVEL. 


224  WONDERFUL  FERTILITY  OF  LAND 

power  plant  where  it  turns  four  immense  turbine  engines, 
which  are  again  used  to  pump  water  from  the  Eio  Grande 
up  to  an  elevation  of  fifty  feet  and  sufficient  water  is 
thus  obtained  to  irrigate  10,000  acres  of  land  in  the  Eio 
Grande  Valley.  These  engines  also  furnish  the  power 
for  a  dynamo  which  generates  sufficient  electric  power 
for  the  lighting  of  the  haciendas  on  this  land.  This 
power  plant,  which  is  situated  at  Balcones  on  the  banks 
of  the  Eio  Grande  about  six  miles  below  and  opposite 
the  city  of  Del  Eio,  Texas,  is  successfully  operated — the 
first  of  the  kind  in  Mexico. 


GROW  TWO  CEOPS  A  YEAR 

The  climate  makes  it  possible  to  grow  two  crops 
yearly,  but  only  where  irrigation  is  practiced.  Without 
irrigation  only  one  crop  can  be  raised.  The  records 
taken  at  Fort  Clark,  Texas,  show  an  average  annual  rain- 
fall for  the  last  thirty-six  years  of  22.74  inches,  and  while 
it  is  true  that  good  crops  of  corn,  milo  maize,  kaffir  corn 
and  sorghum  have  been  raised  during  the  dryest  years, 
without  irrigation,  yet  it  does  not  seem  advisable  to  advo- 
cate dry  farming  because  the  history  of  the  country 
shows  the  immense  advantage  to  be  derived  from  irri- 
gation and  it  is  desired  to  practice  agriculture  in  its 
highest  and  most  profitable  form.  Observations  taken 
at  Fort  Clark,  Texas,  for  a  period  of  twenty-one  years 
show  a  mean  annual  temperature  of  69.7.  Highest  tem- 
perature 109,  lowest  temperature  10  degree  above  zero, 
with  earliest  killing  frost  November  2,  and  the  latest 
killing  frost  March  20.    Hail  is  practically  unknown. 

Grasses  such  as  mesquite,  gramma,  blue  stem,  Ber- 
muda, buffalo,  and  others,  grow  in  abundance. 


WONDERFUL  FERTILITY  OF  LAND  225 

The  land  is  particularly  adapted  to  the  raising  of 
corn  (which  has  been  the  staple  food  article  of  Mexico 
since  before  the  conquest),  barley,  oats,  alfalfa,  hard 
wheat  and  rye. 

Vegetables,  such  as  potatoes,  watermelons,  canta- 
loupe, cucumbers,  cabbage  and  onions  find  here  all  the 
conditions  necessary  for  their  successful  growth,  and 
it  is  a  well  known  fact  that  the  State  of  Coahuila  has 
become  famous  for  its  fine  flavored  tomatoes. 

Peaches,  pears,  apricots  and  grapes  grow  abundantly 
and  it  is  needless  to  mention  the  abundance  of  figs  and 
pecans  that  are  produced. 

With  its  elevation  of  2,500  feet  above  the  sea  level, 
and  its  mild  climate,  it  is  hard  to  imagine  a  more  health- 
ful place. 

NEGLECT  SEEN  EVEBYWHEKE 

A  trip  through  this  land,  while  it  will  show  how  sadly 
things  have  been  neglected,  cannot  help  but  impress  one 
with  the  wonderful  fertility  of  the  soil  and  the  ideal  con- 
ditions surrounding  it.  On  every  hand  may  be  seen  the 
evidence  of  the  wonderful  possibilities  of  the  country — 
here  a  field  of  volunteer  wheat,  which  though  planted  by 
nature,  compares  favorably  with  that  put  in  carefully 
and  cultivated — there  a  peach  or  fig  tree,  which,  though 
it  possibly  never  received  attention,  and  certainly  never 
intelligent  attention,  is  loaded  with  luscious  fruit.  That 
such  opportunity  should  be  neglected  is  indeed  strange. 

FACTS  OF  MEXICAN  RESOURCES  AND  HISTORY 
MATERIAL  POSSESSIONS 

Area,  square  miles   767,000 

Population,  about 15,000,000 


226  WONDERFUL  FERTILITY  OF  LAND 

Annual  silver  production,  nearly $  50,000,000 

Annual  gold  production,  nearly 20,000,000 

Value  of  yearly  exports,  about 125,000,000 

Capitalization  of  banks,  about 100,000,000 

Miles  of  railroad,  about 15,000 

Mexico  is  rich  in  mineral  resources.  In  1907  it  led 
the  world  in  the  production  of  silver,  producing  nearly 
$40,000,000.  In  the  same  year  gold  to  the  value  of 
$18,000,000  was  produced,  giving  the  country  sixth  rank 
among  the  gold-producing  nations  of  the  world.  Iron, 
copper,  lead,  quicksilver,  zinc,  tin,  cobalt  and  nickel  also 
are  mined  extensively.  The  value  of  exports  in  1909  was 
nearly  $125,000,000.  The  aggregate  capital  of  Mexican 
banks  is  about  $100,000,000.  The  building  of  railroads 
is  progressing  rapidly.  In  1876  Mexico  had  367  miles 
of  railroad,  and  this  had  increased  by  1911  to  nearly 
15,000  miles. 

HISTORY 

Eepublic  of  Mexico  declared  independent  February 
24, 1821. 

Independence  proclaimed  December  2,  1822. 

Eecognized  by  United  States  in  1823. 

First  constitution  proclaimed  October  4,  1824. 

Present  constitution  adopted  February  5, 1857. 

The  Eepublic  was  declared  independent  February  24, 
1821 ;  established  as  an  empire,  under  Iturbide,  in  1822,- 
and  proclaimed  a  Eepublic  by  Santa  Ana  December  2, 
1822.  Iturbide  abdicated  March  20,  1823.  The  Mexican 
flag,  green,  white  and  red,  was  adopted.  The  first  con- 
stitution was  formulated  in  1823  and  1824  and  was  pro- 


WONDERFUL  FERTILITY  OF  LAND  227 

claimed  October  4, 1824.    Guadalupe  Victoria  was  elected 
the  first  president. 

The  Texas  Revolution  of  1836  was  successful  and  the 
Mexican  war  established  the  annexation  of  Texas  to  the 
United  States. 

The  French-English-Spanish  intervention  in  1861, 
during  the  presidency  of  Juarez,  brought  about  the 
second  empine.  The  war  brought  out  Porfirio  Diaz  as 
a  republican  leader.  The  army  of  intervention  captured 
the  City  of  Mexico  in  May,  1863,  Juarez  and  Diaz  retir- 
ing to  San  Luis  Potosi  and  establishing  the  republican 
capital.  In  April,  1864,  Archduke  Maxmilian  was  pro- 
claimed Emperor  of  Mexico,  and  reigned  two  years. 

In  1866  the  French  withdrew  from  Mexico.  Juarez 
and  Diaz  reorganized  the  army  of  the  republic  and 
advanced  on  the  City  of  Mexico.  The  city  was  captured 
on  May  15,  1867,  and  Maxmilian  surrendered.  He  was 
court-martialed,  sentenced  to  death  and  executed  on 
June  19,  1867.  Juarez  was  elected  president  in  August, 
and  re-elected  in  1871.  He  died  July  18, 1872,  and  Tejada, 
president  of  the  supreme  court,  completed  the  term. 

The  constitutional  amendments  of  September,  1873, 
led  to  a  revolution  headed  by  Iglesias.  Diaz  was  made 
commander  in  chief  of  the  army  and  defeated  the  revo- 
lutionists. He  was  proclaimed  provisional  president  in 
November,  1876,  and  was  elected  president  at  the  elec- 
tions in  April,  1877,  to  hold  office  until  November,  1880. 
He  declined  re-election,  and  in  1880  Gonzales  was  elected 
president.  Diaz  was  again  elected  in  1884,  and  was  re- 
elected in  1888,  1892,  1896,  1900,  1904  and  1908.  The 
present  revolt  began  in  November,  1910,  and  was  appar- 
ently crushed  in  a  month.  President  Diaz  was  inaugu- 
rated November  30.    But  the  fires  of  rebellion  merely 


228  WONDERFUL  FERTILITY  OF  LAND 

slumbered.     Guerrilla  war  followed  and  has  continued 
intermittently  ever  since. 

The  Eepublic  of  Mexico  consists  of  twenty-six  states, 
one  territory  and  one  federal  district.  The  national 
capital  is  the  City  of  Mexico.  The  state  governments, 
like  the  federal  government,  are  divided  into  three  parts 
— the  executive,  or  governor,  the  legislature  and  the 
judiciary.  The  governor  and  legislature  are  elected  by 
the  people  and  the  judiciary  is  appointed. 

MONROE  DOCTRINE  AN  INSULT 

Mexicans  resent  the  Monroe  doctrine  as  an  unwar- 
rantable assumption  by  the  United  States  of  jurisdiction 
over  the  affairs  of  free  nations.  Mexico  considers  the 
Monroe  doctrine  nothing  more  nor  less  than  a  notice 
served  by  the  United  States  upon  the  governments  of 
Europe  that  it  proposes  to  do  all  the  exploiting  that  is 
done  on  the  American  continent  and  that  if  any  other 
nation  tries  it  there  will  be  a  row. 


CHAPTER  XX 
GOVERNMENT  TACTICS  CONDEMNED 

AMERICANS    BARRICADED    IN    TAMPICO    HOTEL    BESIEGED    ALL. 

NIGHT WOMEN  AND  CHILDREN  MARCHED  NEARLY  NAKED 

THROUGH  THE  STREETS  OF  CORDOBA BUSINESS  MEN  CAR- 
RIED OFF  BY  THE  CONNECTICUT  AGAINST  THEIR  PROTESTS 
AND  THEIR  AFFAIRS  WRECKED 

WHILE  pour  parlees  looking  to  an  amicable  set- 
tlement of  the  trouble  with  Mexico  were  being 
carried  on  by  representatives  of  Argentina, 
Brazil  and  Chili,  Mexicans  in  Vera  Cruz  and  Tampico 
were  subjecting  Americans  in  both  cities  to  innumerable 
insults  as  well  as  to  actual  violence,  punishment  of  the 
offenders  being  for  the  time  impossible  because  of  orders 
from  Washington  to  General  Funston  commanding  the 
military  forces  in  Vera  Cruz. 

DARED  NOT  RETURN  FIRE 

The  orders  were  not  'to  fire  upon  Mexicans  during 
the  period  of  negotiation  and  as  a  result  scores  of  crim- 
inals liberated  from  the  prisons  of  Vera  Cruz  by  General 
Maas  before  his  retirement  intrenched  themselves  in 
the  hills  outside  the  city  and  kept  up  a  constant  sniping 
at  the  Americans  which  the  latter  were  not  permitted  to 
return. 

229 


230  GOVERNMENT  TACTICS  CONDEMNED 

These  bandits  stoned  refugee  trains  passing  their 
ambush  and  generally  terrorized  all  with  whom  they 
came  in  contact.  Americans  returning  from  Vera  Cruz 
to  the  United  States  were  severe  in  their  criticism  of 
the  dilatory  tactics  of  the  administration,  declaring  that 
patience  had  ceased  to  be  a  virtue  when  Mexican  team- 
sters and  mule  drivers  were  tearing  down  American 
flags  wherever  they  could  find  them  and  using  them  to 
bind  the  legs  of  their  animals — considered  a  special  act 
of  disrespect. 

COMPLAINTS  TO  WASHINGTON 

The  authorities  at  Washington  were  deluged  with 
complaints  from  Americans  who  had  been  in  Tampico 
when  the  fleet  under  Admiral  Mayo — the  Dolphin,  Chester 
and  DesMoines — was  ordered  to  Vera  Cruz  while  riotous 
mobs  were  tearing  about  the  streets  of  the  town  and 
scores  of  Americans  were  besieged  in  Tampico  hotels 
by  mobs  threatening  to  murder  them. 

At  one  time  there  were  seventy-five  Americans,  men, 
women  and  children,  barricaded  in  one  hotel  building, 
and  while  preparations  were  made  for  defense  in  the 
event  of  actual  attack  by  the  mob,  the  besieged  persons 
had  less  than  one  hundred  cartridges  among  them  with 
only  revolvers  for  defense  against  the  rifles  of  the  rioters. 
The  Mexicans  paraded  up  and  down  outside  the  Southern 
Hotel  until  2  o'clock  in  the  morning  after  the  taking  of 
Vera  Cruz  by  the  Americans  had  been  announced.  The 
mob  threw  bricks  through  the  windows  and  there  was 
much  firing,  but  no  occupant  of  the  hotel  was  hit. 


GOVERNMENT  TACTICS  CONDEMNED  231 

ZAKAGOSA  IGNOKES  APPEALS 

From  11  P.  M.  to  midnight  on  the  night  of  April  22, 
appeals  were  sent  to  General  Zaragosa  to  disperse  the 
mob,  but  without  response  until  the  commander  of  a 
German  gunboat  in  the  river  sent  word  ashore  that  the 
disturbance  must  be  quelled  at  once  or  that  he  would 
land  a  force  of  men  to  suppress  it.  Soon  after  the  howl- 
ing and  brick-throwing  ceased.  A  few  hours  later  the 
Germans  landed  and  took  aboard  the  women  and  children. 

Frank  S.  Engle,  general  manager  of  the  Frisco  Sal- 
vador Company,  a  Chicago-Mexican  enterprise,  who  was 
one  of  those  criticising  the  Government's  handling  of  the 
Tampico  situation,  said  in  explanation  of  his  attitude 
that  the  morning  after  the  mob  incident  all  Americans 
were  ordered  on  board  the  battleship  Connecticut  which 
was  lying  in  the  Gulf. 

The  following  is  Mr.  Engle 's  own  language: 

"We  were  told  by  the  American  consul  that  American 
marines  were  to  be  landed  and  that  we  should  have  no 
time  to  gather  up  our  effects  as  an  engagement  might 
ensue. 

"Nearly  everyone  went  on  board  the  warship.  When 
we  arrived  we  were  told  that  no  landing  of  marines  was 
intended  but  that  we  were  to  be  treated  as  refugees. 
Many  of  us  then  wished  to  notify  our  friends  in  the 
interior  that  we  were  to  be  deported  but  this  was  refused. 
We  were  told  that  we  must  proceed  to  Galveston  just  as 
we  were,  without  our  baggage  or  papers  or  anything 
else.  Many  of  us  had  left  our  desks  and  safes  open, 
expecting  to  return. 

"The  fact  is  that  after  creating  a  situation  in  Tampico 
which  rendered  it  impossible  for  Americans  to  live  there 


232  GOVERNMENT  TACTICS  CONDEMNED 

safely,  the  Government  ordered  away  the  fleet  which  had 
been  lying  there  for  months,  and  if  it  had  not  been  for 
the  extreme  courtesy  of  the  German  commander  there 
might  have  been  a  massacre. ' ' 

WOMEN    PAKADED   BAREFOOT 

A  committee  of  responsible  men  of  Cordoba  wired  the 
Washington  authorities  on  April  22,  1914,  that  fifty 
American  women  and  children  were  forced  to  march 
barefooted  through  the  streets  of  that  town,  many  of 
them  being  clad  only  in  their  night  clothes.  The  pro- 
cession was  started,  it  was  declared,  on  a  pretense  of 
according  the  unfortunates  protection  from  a  mob. 

While  this  was  going  on  three  hundred  and  fifty 
American  employes  of  the  mines  at  El  Oro  were  given 
only  an  hour  in  which  to  pack  their  belongings  and  get 
on  board  a  so-called  special  train  toward  which  the  women 
and  children  were  ostensibly  being  conducted.  There 
were  no  lights  on  the  train  and  as  a  rumor  had  been 
circulated  that  bandits  were  lying  in  wait  for  it  at  Ixtla- 
huaca,  the  terror  of  the  almost  naked  women  and  children 
was  indescribable. 

As  an  incident  characteristic  of  the  public  feeling  in 
Mexico  during  the  few  days  following  the  taking  of  Vera 
Cruz,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  the  statue  of  Washington, 
presented  to  Mexico  City  by  the  American  colony,  was 
torn  from  its  pedestal  and  dragged  through  the  streets 
with  a  rope  round  its  neck,  while  a  bust  of  the  Mexican 
revolutionary  hero,  Miguel  Hidalgo,  was  erected  in  its 
place. 


GOVERNMENT  TACTICS  CONDEMNED  233 

SOLDIEES  BECOME  BANDITS 

One  of  the  most  serious  embarrassments  of  all  author^ 
ity  in  any  efforts  to  bring  about  an  amicable  adjustment 
of  the  Mexican  trouble  was  found  to  be  the  refusal  of 
so-called  soldiers  enlisted  under  the  various  revolution- 
ary banners  to  surrender  their  arms  even  when  ordered 
to  do  so  by  their  commanders.  "Pancho"  Villa  was 
declared  on  April  20, 1914,  to  have  told  American  Special 
Agent  Carothers  of  the  difficulty  that  would  be  experi- 
enced in  any  such  attempt,  pointing  out  that  the  men 
would  merely  split  up  into  small  bands  if  not  kept 
together,  and  that  instead  of  being  under  control  they 
would  become  banditti,  fighting  guerrilla  fashion 
wherever  they  met  an  enemy. 

It  was  the  opinion  then  of  certain  cabinet  officials 
that  whatever  arrangements  for  an  armistice  or  for 
permanent  peace  might  be  arrived  at  on  paper  through 
the  efforts  of  the  A.  B.  C,  mediators,  the  fact  of  Mexican 
disorder,  pillage  and  murder  would  remain  unchanged, 
and  the  peril  to  all  foreigners  in  the  country,  especially 
Americans,  would  remain  as  before. 

THE   STORY   OF   VERA   CRUZ 

But  the  story  of  the  taking  of  Vera  Cruz  shows  what 
sort  of  material  the  United  States  has  at  hand  to  check 
disorder.  There  are  galaxies  of  half  told  or  untold  in- 
cidents which  may  well  be  sketched  in  greater  detail, 
for  they  garnish  with  newly  won  laurels  this  latest  page 
in  American  naval  history. 

One  such  incident  centers  about  the  person  of  Chief 
^Boatswain  John  McCloy,  of  the  Florida.  He  is  not  a 
tenderfoot  in  the  fighting  game,  having  won  already  a 
medal  of  honor  in  China.    Captain  W.  H.  Bush,  of  the 


234  GOVERNMENT  TACTICS  CONDEMNED 

Florida,  who  was  in  command  of  the  entire  naval  brigade, 
and  Lieutenant  Gerald  Howze,  of  the  same  ship,  who  was 
acting  as  brigade  adjutant,  discovered  while  near  the 
water  front  that  there  was  dangerous  sniping  from  the 
shore. 

SHOT   FLYING    EVERYWHERE 

Shots  were  striking  close  around  the  field  hospital 
opened  near  the  Ward  line  pier  by  Brigade  Surgeon 
M.  S.  Elliott.  Captain  Eush  ordered  three  naval 
launches  to  patrol  the  shore  front,  under  the  command 
of  Chief  Boatswain  McCloy,  and  to  open  fire  on  any 
sharpshooters  who  might  be  found. 

The  boatswain  with  his  three  ships'  steamers  had 
approached  the  long  Sanidad  pier  before  drawing  fire, 
when  suddenly  a  well  directed  volley  rang  out  from  the 
Mexican  Naval  Academy,  a  pretentious  building  facing 
the  harbor. 

McCloy  had  in  each  of  his  boats  four  or  five  riflemen 
and  a  one-pounder  mounted  in  the  bows.  These  returned 
the  fire  of  the  enemy  promptly,  but  the  first  volley  from 
the  machine  guns  and  riflemen  in  the  naval  academy 
had  given  McCloy  a  wound  through  the  right  thigh. 

WOUNDED    BUT    FOUGHT    ON 

The  plucky  boatswain  hastily  twisted  a  tourniquet 
about  the  wound  and  went  right  on  with  his  duties.  Four 
other  seamen  in  his  little  flotilla  fell  wounded  at  the  first 
discharge  and  the  steam  pipes  in  two  of  his  boats  were 
cut  by  the  machine  gun  fire,  the  escaping  steam  hissing 
out  viciously. 

Wounded  as  he  was  and  in  a  cloud  of  scalding  steam 
McCloy  coolly  shifted  from  his  own  boat  into  one  of 
the  others,  the  transfer  being  made  under  the  grilling 
fire  of  the  riflemen  shooting  from  the  Mexican  Annapolis. 


CHAPTER  XXI 
BLOOD  SACRIFICE  AND  CANNIBAL  RITES 

AZTEC  TEMPLES  PILED  WITH  HUNDREDS  OF  THOUSANDS  OF 
SKULLS  OF  SACRIFICED  VICTIMS — MANY  HIDEOUS  PRACTICES 
DECLARED  TO  SURVIVE  EVEN  NOW  AMONG  THE  IGNORANT 
PEOPLES  OF  THE  INTERIOR. 

HUERTA,  the  man  whose  so-called  government  in 
Mexico  involved  the  United  States  in  its  most 
recent    imbroglio    with    that    nnhappy    country, 
through  President  Wilson's  refusal  to  recognize  "the 
blood-handed  dictator/ '  is  nearly  pure  Aztec  by  birth. 

One  of  the  secrets  of  his  great  popularity  is  declared 
to  have  been  his  complete  comprehension  of  the  Indian 
point  of  view  and  his  frequently  expressed  pride  in  his 
Indian  blood. 

The  Mexican  Indians  are  the  most  superstitious  beings 
in  the  world,  according  to  travelers  who  have  lived  among 
them.  The  best  intentions  and  the  most  innocent  de- 
meanor are  alike  impotent  to  secure  for  the  visitor  to  an 
Indian  village  anything  but  sullen  resentment  of  his  pres- 
ence. In  fact  the  various  groups,  speaking  each  a  differ- 
ent dialect,  are  suspicious  and  wary  of  each  other. 

SCORES   OF  DIALECTS   USED 

In  the  various  states  of  Mexico  there  are  scores  of 
dialects  and  few  of  the  tribes  speak  more  than  one  of 

235 


236      BLOOD  SACRIFICE  AND  CANNIBAL  RITES 

these.  As  a  result  the  ancient  superstitions  as  to  worship 
are  declared  to  have  been  perpetuated  in  many  of  the 
tribes  and  blood  sacrifices  are  still  offered  to  the  various 
gods. 

The  occupants  of  the  Indian  villages  that  lie  remote 
from  cities  are  suspicious  to  a  degree.  In  Chiapas,  for 
instance,  there  are  villages  wherein  the  entire  population 
will  hide  if  a  stranger  comes  along.  Nor  is  this  strange 
in  view  of  the  fact  that  in  the  past  entire  villages  were 
depopulated  by  being  forced  to  work  for  foreign  planters 
who  enslaved  them  under  a  system  of  fines  that  kept  them 
constantly  indebted.  The  result  was  that  hundreds  of 
thousands  with  their  children  were  forced  into  lives  of 
serfdom  of  which  the  unfortunate  peon  of  the  present  is 
a  result. 

The  wish  of  the  Mexican  Indian  is  to  be  let  alone.  He 
does  not  want  modern  civilization.  He  would  like  to  cul- 
tivate his  own  garden  patch  and  to  see  as  little  as  pos- 
sible of  the  outside  world.  If  he  can  only  insure  that 
he  will  not  be  interfered  with  he  is  willing  even  to  pay 
taxes  in  order  to  live  undisturbed  on  his  own  land.  He 
does  not  realize  that  he  is  paying  a  tax,  but  what  he  does 
realize  is  that  unless  he  pays  the  tax  some  strong-armed 
person  in  assumed  authority  over  him  will  turn  him  out. 
So  he  pays  to  be  left  in  peace.  JT 

THE  BLOOD  OF  CHILDBED 

The  Aztecs  were  blood-thirsty  by  nature."' All  their 
Gods  were  blood-thirsty  gods.  Huitzilopochtl  was  the 
tribal  deity.  To  appease  this  hideous  mancreated  image 
the  lives  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of  human  beings  were 
sacrificed.  J  In  the  olden  time  the  victim  of  the  blood 


BLOOD  SACRIFICE  AND  CANNIBAL  RITES       237 

sacrifice  was  eaten  with  great  ceremony  by  the  tribesmen 
after  the  head  had  been  cut  off  and  carried  to  the  temple 
as  proof  that  the  sacrifice  demanded  had  been  duly  car- 
ried out.  The  Tlalocs  (rain  gods)  demanded  constant 
human  sacrifices  for  their  propitiation  or  there  would  be 
no  rain  and  the  crops  would  wither  in  the  fields. 

Early  travelers  in  Mexico  and  some  more  recent  ex- 
plorers have  written  of  these  awful  sacrifices.  The  rain 
gods  demanded  little  children  as  their  victims.  In  order 
that  the  god  might  be  properly  appeased  it  was  necessary 
that  the  child  should  weep  copiously  before  being  be- 
headed, so  for  days  the  unfortunate  child  victims  were 
kept  in  tortures  that  caused  them  to  shriek  with  pain  and 
to  water  the  plains  with  their  tears. 

Certain  portions  of  the  headless  bodies  of  these  vic- 
tims were  retained  by  the  priests  to  use  in  celebrating 
their  secret  rites  for  propititation  of  the  deities  they  wor- 
shiped and  the  remainder  was  tossed  from  the  temple 
pyramid  to  the  band  who  had  captured  the  victim.  This 
band  carried  the  mangled  remains  to  their  homes  and 
consumed  them. 

A  HIDEOUS  EITE 

One  of  the  most  striking  of  the  ancient  ceremonies 
of  sacrifice  was  the  secular  festival  celebrated  at  the  end 
of  the  fifty-two  year  cycle.  The  Aztecs  believed  that  the 
world  would  come  to  an  end  at  the  conclusion  of  some 
such  cycle — that  there  had  already  been  four  destructions 
of  the  world. 

As  the  end  of  any  cycle  approached  there  was  fear  and 
trembling.  On  the  last  day  of  the  cycle  there  was  prep- 
aration for  the  great  sacrifice  made  to  mark  its  end.    The 


238      BLOOD  SACRIFICE  AND  CANNIBAL  RITES 

victim  was  an  Aztec  who  offered  himself  for  sacrifice. 
The  ceremony  was  held  on  the  "hill  of  the  star,"  Ixtapal- 
apa,  on  the  summit  of  which  was  the  temple. 

The  priests  on  the  hilltop  watched  the  constellations 
and  when  the  Pleiades  reached  the  meridian  they  plunged 
their  stone  knives  into  the  breast  of  the  sacrificial  victim 
who  had  been  thrown  prostrate  on  the  sacrifice  stone.  The 
man's  heart  was  dragged  out  of  the  gaping  wound  thus 
made.  Into  this  wound  was  forced  a  block  of  wood  and 
into  a  notch  in  this  block  was  placed  a  second  stick  which 
the  priests  whirled  about  until  fire  flew  from  the  fric- 
tion. As  soon  as  the  spark  of  fire  appeared  the  gods 
were  supposed  to  have  been  appeased.  The  News  was 
carried  to  enormous  crowds  waiting  anxiously  on  the 
plains  below  and  there  was  great  rejoicing.  Fifty-two 
more  years  of  life  for  the  world  were  believed  to  have 
been  assured  through  the  sacrifice. 

SACRIFICES   STILL   OFFERED 

To  what  extent  the  hideous  practices  of  the  Indian 
tribes  have  been  perpetuated  among  the  ignorant  classes 
it  is  impossible  to  say  with  definiteness.  There  are  dark 
tales  of  sacrifices  told  in  every  Mexican  town  and  it  is 
hard  to  tell  just  what  amount  of  truth  there  may  be  in 
them.  Certainly  the  substitution  of  Roman  Catholicism 
for  their  former  idolatry  among  so  many  of  the  tribes 
has  not  caused  them  to  renounce  their  former  supersti- 
tions, because  the  religious  ideas  of  the  Indians  are 
found  by  present  day  travelers  to  be  exceedingly  vague. 
They  set  up  idols  on  the  altars  in  their  modern  temples 
and  in  any*  severe  stress  revert  to  their  ancient  beliefs 
and  practices. 


CHAPTER  XXII 
COMMODORE  CONNER  AT  VERA  CRUZ 

HOW   AMERICAN    MILITARY  AND  NAVAL  FORCES   REDUCED   THE 

PORT   IN    1847 MORE   DIFFICULT   PROBLEMS   THAN   FACED 

THE  1914  EXPEDITION TAMPICO  CAPTURED  WITHOUT  DIF- 
FICULTY— MEXICANS  FOUGHT  WELL. 

THE  capture  of  Vera  Cruz  by  American  forces  under 
Major  General  Winfield  Scott  and  Commodore 
Conner  in  1847  was  a  much  more  difficult  problem 
than  that  which  faced  Rear  Admiral  Fletcher  and  his  blue- 
jackets and  marines  in  1914.  A  force  of  13,000  soldiers 
and  several  hundred  sailors  besieged  the  city  for  twenty 
days  before  the  capitulation  sixty-seven  years  previously. 
A  blockade  by  war  vessels  had  been  maintained  for  sev- 
eral months. 

It  was  popularly  supposed  that  Vera  Cruz  would  fall 
only  after  operations  covering  many  weeks,  possibly 
months,  when  General  Scott  was  ordered  to  prepare  his 
army  for  a  march  on  the  City  of  Mexico,  by  way  of  Vera 
Cruz,  late  in  1846.  General  Taylor  was  driving  Santa  Ana 
slowly  back  in  Northern  Mexico.  The  United  States  Gov- 
ernment decided  to  end  the  war  by  striking  at  the  enemy's 
heart.  Tampico  was  captured  without  difficulty  and  used 
as  an  advanced  base  in  preparing  for  the  assault  on  Vera 
Cruz. 

239 


240  COMMODORE  CONNER  AT  VERA  CRUZ 

CONNEK   BLOCKADED    PORT 

Commodore  Conner,  commanding  the  warships  in 
Mexican  waters,  established  a  blockade  of  the  port.  Men, 
arms  and  supplies  were  gathered  at  Tampico,  Galveston 
and  New  Orleans.  The  advance  began  in  February. 
Early  in  March  General  Scott  had  13,000  men  on  trans- 
ports off  Vera  Cruz  harbor  and  a  council  of  war  was 
called  to  determine  the  best  way  of  assaulting  the  city. 
It  was  decided  to  land  the  army  at  some  favorably  point, 
invest  the  city  as  soon  as  possible  to  prevent  reenforce- 
ments  arriving  from  the  interior  and  then  take  the  city 
and  Fort  San  Juan  de  Ulua,  either  by  bombardment  and 
assault  or  siege. 

Accordingly,  March  9th,  after  a  careful  reconnoiter  of 
the  coast  by  naval  small  boats  and  engineer  officers, 
Worth's  division  of  regulars  was  transferred  from  trans- 
ports to  warships  and  carried  a  few  miles  south  of  the 
city  off  the  Beach  of  Collado.  For  an  hour  or  two  the 
sandhills  back  of  the  beach  were  shelled  by  naval  guns. 
In  the  meantime  the  troops  were  embarked  in  surfboats 
and  formed  back  of  the  larger  vessels.  The  shelling 
stopped  and  the  surfboats  landed  their  men. 

SCOTT   LANDS    TEOOPS 

The  first  regiments  to  land  immediately  went  into  skir- 
mish formation  and  advanced  to  a  line  of  sandhills  com- 
manding the  beach.  No  enemy  was  encountered.  Patter- 
son's  division  of  volunteers  and  Twigg's  division  fol- 
lowed. By  10  o'clock  that  night  General  Scott  had  his 
13,000  troops  safely  ashore  and  slowly  taking  positions. 

Firing  began  at  Sunrise  March  10th.  The  Mexican  bat- 


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COMMODORE  CONNER  AT  VERA  CRUZ  257 

teries  at  Santiago,  the  southermost  fort  guarding  Vera 
Cruz,  and  San  Juan  de  Ulua  began  shelling  the  American 
position.  No  damage  was  done.  Patterson's  division 
marched  west  of  Worth's  and  became  Scott's  left  of  line. 
General  Patterson  sent  a  brigade  composed  of  two  Ten- 
nessee and  two  Pennsylvania  regiments  under  General 
Pillow  to  the  front.  Brisk  skirmish  fire  began,  wounding 
several  Americans. 

That  night  Worth "s  artillery  moved  in  toward  the  city 
and  took  an  advanced  position  about  nine  hundred  yards 
south  of  Santiago.  The  following  day  was  spent  in  artil- 
lery dueling  and  vanguard  fighting.  Scott  began  his  in- 
vestment tactics  the  morning  of  March  11th.  Twiggs '  di- 
vision moved  to  the  left  of  Patterson,  making  the  latter 
the  center.  Lieutenant  George  B.  McClellan,  officer  of  en- 
gineers, located  a  line  for  investment.  Patterson  imme- 
diately occupied  it  with  a  New  York  regiment,  the  Fourth 
Illinois  and  a  battalion  from  a  South  Carolina  regiment. 
Sharp  fighting  began  as  the  American  left  extended  itself 
gradually  around  Vera  Cruz.  The  Mexican  forces  gave 
way  in  all  directions. 

REVOLUTION  AT  CAPITOL 

Scott  now  sent  parties  to  his  rear  to  notify  the  ap- 
proach of  any  reenforcements.  Fortunately  none  came. 
Revolution  had  broken  out  in  the  City  of  Mexico  and  no 
troops  could  be  spared  for  Vera  Cruz.  Twiggs  completed 
half  the* investment  line  March  11th  and  there  rested  two 
days  on  what  is  called  the  Jalapa  road.  March  13th  the 
line  was  extended  to  Vergara  after  a  cavalry  fight.  Ver- 
gara  is  two  and  one-half  miles  north  of  Vera  Cruz.  The 
investment  was  now  complete.    It  had  taken  three  and 


258  COMMODORE  CONNER  AT  VERA  CRUZ 

one-half  days,  with  a  loss  to  the  Americans  of  only  two 
killed  and  twenty  wounded. 

Engineers  now  began  planning  stations  for  siege  bat- 
teries which  Scott  expected  daily  from  the  United  States. 
Vera  Cruz  was  defended  by  two  strong  facts,  Santiago 
to  the  south  and  Concepcion  to  the  north,  with  lunettes 
and  redoubts  for  eight  and  ten  guns  between.  Walls  con- 
nected the  forts  and  redoubts.  Scott  planned  to  reduce 
the  gun  stations  and  then  carry  the  walls  by  assault  if 
the  city  refused  to  surrender.  A  severe  storm  halted 
operations  until  March  15th.  Siege  guns,  mortars  and 
more  troops  arrived  that  day  and  were  hurriedly  brought 
ashore  and  mounted.  March  22d  Scott  had  his  artillery 
placed.  His  lines  had  inclosed  Vera  Cruz  nine  days.  It 
was  known  that  the  city  was  in  straitened  circumstances. 
General  Juan  Morales,  commanding,  had  but  5,000  men, 
augmented  by  citizen  volunteers.  In  addition  to  his  land 
defenses  he  had  San  Juan  de  TTlua,  with  128  heavy  guns, 
to  protect  his  sea  flank.  Additional  water  batteries  com- 
manded all  approaches  from  that  side.  General  Scott 
sent  in  a  demand  for  the  city's  surrender.  Morales  re- 
fused.   That  night  the  bombardment  began. 


Seven  ten-inch  mortars  opened  the  fire.  As  fast  as 
other  guns  arrived  they  were  brought  ashore  and 
mounted.  Detachments  of  bluejackets  were  landed  with 
guns  from  the  fleet  and  took  their  place  in  the  investing 
works.  A  schedule  of  180  shells  an  hour  during  the  day 
and  one  shell  every  five  minutes  at  night  was  maintained 
by  the  Americans.  The  Mexicans  returned  the  fire  by 
spurts.    It  was  most  ineffectual.    General  Scott  had  ex- 


COMMODORE  CONNER  AT  VERA  CRUZ  259 

pected,  had  been  promised,  in  fact,  much  better  artillery 
than  he  received. 

March  24th  and  25th  the  American  forces  were  an- 
noyed several  times  by  bodies  of  Mexican  cavalry 
operating  from  the  rear.  These  forces  were  from  Jalapa 
and  Puebla,  but  had  arrived  too  late  to  enter  Vera 
Cruz.  Colonel  Pensifer  F.  Smith  and  Colonel  Har- 
ney of  the  American  riflemen  and  dragoons  engaged  the 
Mexican  cavalry  with  success.  The  first  signs  of  serious 
weakening  by  the  Mexicans  came  on  the  night  of  March 
25th.  An  American  shell  exploded  the  magazine  at  San- 
tiago that  night,  causing  severe  loss  of  life  and  property. 

OVERTURES  FOR  SURRENDER 

The  next  morning  General  Landero,  who  had  suc- 
ceeded General  Morales,  made  overtures  to  General  Scott. 
Fire  was  suspended  immediately.  Scott  appointed  Gen- 
eral Worth,  General  Pillow  and  Colonel  Totten  as  his 
commissioners.  They  met  the  Mexican  commissioners, 
Colonel  Herrera,  Colonel  Gutierrez  de  Villa  Neuva  and 
Lieutenant  Colonel  Robies,  at  Punta  de  Hornos,  a  lime 
kiln,  between  Santiago  and  the  American  lines.  The  com- 
mission extended  its  meeting  to  the  next  day,  when  terms 
of  capitulation  were  announced.  The  Mexican  forces 
were  allowed  to  march  out  of  their  works  with  all  honors 
of  war.  That  was  done  at  10  o'clock  on  the  morning  of 
March  29th.  The  Mexican  troops  passed  out  the  Gate  of 
Mercy  and  halted  on  the  Plain  of  Cocos.  Here  they 
stacked  arms  and  were  paroled.  The  Mexican  flag  was 
then  lowered  and  saluted  by  an  American  battery.  Gen- 
eral Scott  took  immediate  possession  of  the  city. 


260  COMMODORE  CONNER  AT  VERA  CRUZ 


SCOTT  '&  GENEEALS   DISPLEASED 


Scott's  generals  were  not  at  all  pleased  by  his  siege. 
■They  favored  a  direct  assault  as  early  as  March  15th. 
Taylor  had  taken  Monterey  in  three  days,  they  argued, 
and  their  honor  demanded  similar  action.  Scott  discussed 
the  matter  with  his  staff,  Colonel  Totten,  chief  of  engi- 
neers; Lieutenant  Colonel  Hitchcock,  inspector  general; 
Captain  Bobert  E.  Lee,  engineer,  and  Lieutenant  H.  L. 
Scott,  aid,  and  decided  to  continue  the  siege. 

The  total  American  loss  was  sixty-seven  killed  and 
wounded.  The  Mexicans  lost  500  soldiers  and  400 
civilians  by  death  and  wounds.  Five  thousand  regulars 
and  irregular  troops  surrendered,  with  400  pieces  of 
artillery,  a  most  welcome  addition  to  Scott's  artillery 
batteries. 

AZTEC  KNOWLEDGE  OF  PLANETS 

The  most  surprising  aspect  of  Aztec  knowledge  to 
the  scientist  is  astronomical.  The  Aztecs  know  more 
about  the  planets  than  many  far  more  advanced  races. 
It  is  said  that  the  calendar  in  use  by  the  Aztecs  at  the 
time  of  the  conquest  was  more  exact  and  dependable  than 
that  of  their  conquerors. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 
CAUSES  OF  TWO  MEXICAN  DISPUTES 

DEMOCRATIC  ADMINISTRATIONS  IN  BOTH  MOST  RECENT  MEXICAN 
TROUBLES — DEMOCRATS     BEATEN     AFTER     THE     LAST     WAR 

THOUGH  A  VICTORIOUS  CAMPAIGN  WAS  WAGED PRESIDENT 

WILSON'S  PEACE   POLICY  CONSIDER  HISTORY. 

THERE  are  certain  points  of  similarity  that  show  up 
in  a  study  of  the  two  last  Mexican  troubles.  A 
democratic  administration  was  in  power  in  both. 
In  the  election  of  1848,  at  the  close  of  the  first  Mexican 
war,  the  democratic  party  was  soundly  beaten,  something 
rather  unusual  for  a  party  which  had  just  conducted  a  vic- 
torious conflict.  Again  the  Texans  were  pre-eminent  in 
the  dispute.  In  the  first  war  Texas  was  the  immediate 
cause,  while  in  the  more  recent  conflict  that  state  had 
much  to  do  with  bringing  about  war  spirit.  In  the  first 
Mexican  war  General  Winfield  S.  Scott  was  the  chief 
military  hero. 

CIVIL  WAR  AND  REVOLUTION 

In  the  years  preceding  both  wars  Mexico  had 
been  engaged  in  revolution  and  civil  war.  Again 
in  both  wars  blood  was  deliberately  spilled  before  any 
formal  declaration  of  war  had  been  made. 

261 


262  CAUSES  OF  TWO  MEXICAN  DISPUTES 

The  foundation  of  the  first  Mexican  war  was  laid  by 
the  annexation  of  Texas  in  1845.  Though  for  years 
Texas  had  been  practically  free  and  had  been  acknowl- 
edged as  such  by  the  United  States,  England,  France  and 
other  countries.  Mexico  still  refused  to  acknowledge  its 
independence.  Therefore,  when  Texas  applied  for  admis- 
sion to  the  Union,  Mexico  gave  warning  that  such  admis- 
sion would  be  considered  equivalent  to  an  act  of  war,  and 
withdrew  her  minister  from  Washington.  While  her  acts 
did  not  carry  out  the  hostile  intentions  that  her  words 
spoke,  the  relations  between  the  two  peoples  became 
greatly  strained,  and  it  needed  but  a  spark  to  set  fire  to 
the  tinder. 


President  Polk  hoped  to  point  to  the  annexation  of 
California  as  the  greatest  act  of  his  administration  when 
he  came  up  for  re-election,  and  the  Mexicans  believed 
that  they  would  either  have  to  accept  what  seemed  to 
them  a  small  sum  of  money  for  it  or  else  fight  for  its  reten- 
tion. Their  warlike  attitude  was  somewhat  augmented 
by  the  belief  that  the  United  States  was  on  the  verge  of 
war  with  England  over  the  Oregon  boundary,  and  would 
find  it  impossible  to  wage  a  conflict  with  them  at  the  same 
time.  Whether  President  Polk  deliberately  encouraged 
this  idea  in  order  to  make  Mexico  persist  in  her  hostile 
position  is  a  much-mooted  question,  but  the  later  devel- 
opments make  this  look  probable.  Apparently  it  was  his 
idea  to  lead  Mexico  into  war  and  then  to  arbitrate  with 
England,  so  that  the  whole  attention  of  this  country  could 
be  given  to  subduing  Mexico. 


CAUSES  OF  TWO  MEXICAN  DISPUTES  263 

WESTERN   TEXAS  BOUNDARY 

The  immediate  cause,  however,  was  a  dispute  in  re- 
gard to  the  western  boundary  of  Texas.  From  the  time 
that  she  had  proclaimed  her  independence  in  1836  Texas 
had  steadfastly  maintained  that  her  western  boundary 
was  the  Rio  Grande  River  to  its  source,  and  thence  due 
north  to  the  forty-two  degree  latitude.  In  December, 
1846,  Texas  was  admitted  as  a  state,  provided  that  the 
United  States  might  set  the  boundary  line.  On  January 
13,  1846,  General  Zachary  Taylor  was  ordered  to  march 
to  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Rio  Grande,  which  Polk  claimed, 
was  United  States  territory.  Mexico  claimed,  on  the 
other  hand,  that  the  true  border  was  the  Nueces  River — 
100  miles  to  the  east.  On  April  25,  1846,  the  first  blood 
was  shed  in  a  conflict  between  an  American  company  of 
soldiers  and  a  band  of  Mexicans  who  had  crossed  to  the 
east  side  of  the  Rio  Grande.  President  Polk  sent  his 
famous  war  message  to  Congress,  in  which  he  said  that 
hostilities  had  been  begun  by  the  Mexicans  on  the  Ameri- 
can boundary,  and  war  was  declared  after  a  stormy  ses- 
sion of  Congress. 

AMERICAN  PROPERTY  LOSSES 

A  subsidiary  cause  of  the  war  looks  like  one  of  those 
put  forward  in  the  more  recent  trouble.  Mexico  had  for 
many  years  been  in  a  state  of  chronic  revolution,  and 
American  citizens  in  Mexico  had  sustained  property 
losses,  and  in  some  instances  personal  injuries.  Still 
another  underlying  cause  was  the  need  of  the  South  for 
more  slave  territory,  both  to  have  new  soil,  over  which 
to  spread  the  all- exhausting  system  of  slavery,  and  also 
to  carve  new  states  to  balance  the  proportion  between 


284  CAUSES  OF  TWO  MEXICAN  DISPUTES 

free  and  slave  states.  The  cry  of  "manifest  destiny" 
also  played  a  part,  many  believing  that  the  Pacific  was 
our  natural  western  border,  and  that  with  the  acquisi- 
tion of  the  "Golden  Gate"  commerce  might  be  opened 
with  the  Orient. 

Over  the  advisability  of  the  war  the  two  great  parties 
of  the  day  split  openly.  The  democrats  supported  the  ad- 
ministration on  the  grounds  that  it  was  right  and  just, 
while  the  whigs,  making  the  assertion  that  it  was  a  most 
unholy  and  unrighteous  conflict,  characterized  it  as 
"Polk's  war."  Lincoln  entered  Congress  in  1847  and 
became  a  severe  critic  of  the  policy,  while  Tom  Corwin 
of  Ohio  went  so  far  as  to  say:  "If  I  were  a  Mexican  I 
should  tell  you,  'Have  you  not  enough  room  in  your  own 
country  to  bury  your  dead  men?  If  you  come  into  mine 
we  will  greet  you  with  bloody  hands  and  welcome  you  to 
hospitable  graves.'  "  President  Polk  summarized  his 
standpoint  as  follows:  "The  grievous  wrongs  perpe- 
trated by  Mexico  upon  our  citizens  throughout  a  long 
period  of  years  remained  unredressed ;  and  solemn  trea- 
ties have  been  disregarded.  Our  commerce  with  Mexico 
has  been  almost  annihilated.  As  war  exists,  and  exists  by 
the  act  of  Mexico  herself,  we  are  called  upon  by  every 
consideration  of  duty  and  patriotism  to  vindicate  with 
decision  the  honor,  the  rights  and  the  interests  of  our 
country. ' ' 

WAE  ACCEPTED  AS  FACT 

On  May  13, 1846,  the  War  with  Mexico  was  accepted  as 
a  fact  by  Congress,  and  preparations  made  accordingly. 
For  its  prosecution  there  were  four  fields  of  action.  The 
first  of  these  was  along  the  Rio  Grande,  where  General 


CAUSES  OF  TWO  MEXICAN  DISPUTES  265 

Zachary  Taylor  was  in  charge ;  the  second  in  California, 
under  Captain  John  C.  Fremont  and  Admiral  Stockton; 
the  third  in  New  Mexico,  with  General  Stephen  W.  Kear- 
ney leading  the  American  forces,  and  the  fourth  from 
Vera  Cruz  to  the  City  of  Mexico,  under  the  command  of 
General  Winfield  S.  Scott,  the  commander  in  chief  of 
the  American  forces.  Everywhere  success  attended  the 
American  arms.  It  was  perhaps  the  first  war  in  history, 
lasting  two  years,  where  one  party  suffered  no  reverse, 
and  the  other  gained  no  victory. 

TAYLOR  DEFEATS  MEXICANS 

Taylor  defeated  the  Mexican  troops  at  Palo  Alto  on 
May  8th,  at  Easaca  de  la  Palma  the  following  day,  and 
captured  Matamoras  on  the  18th.  On  September  20th, 
after  a  long  march  through  the  interior,  he  laid  siege  to 
Monterey  and  entered  it  four  days  later,  though  a  gallant 
resistance  was  made  by  the  Mexicans.  His  most  famous 
victory,  however,  was  won  February  23,  1847,  at  Buena 
Vista.  General  Scott  gave  orders,  which  fell  into  the 
hands  of  Santa  Anna,  the  Mexican  commander,  that  Gen- 
eral Taylor  send  him  nine  regiments  to  help  in  the  pro- 
posed attack  upon  Vera  Cruz.  Santa  Anna  immediately 
attacked  Taylor,  expecting  to  crush  him  in  his  weakened 
condition.  It  was  20,000  men  again  5,000,  but  Taylor 's 
skill,  the  persistence  and  superior  equipment  of  the 
American  army  gained  them  a  victory.  It  was  this  bat- 
tle that  made  Taylor  an  irresistible  presidential  candidate 
in  the  coming  elections. 

Fremont  in  California,  while  he  won  military  vic- 
tories, laid  himself  open  to  much  criticism  in  his  disposi- 
tion of  affairs.    It  had  been  the  policy  of  the  administra- 


266  CAUSES  OF  TWO  MEXICAN  DISPUTES 

tion,  which  desired  nothing  more  than  the  acquisition  of 
California,  to  establish  such  good  feeling  between  the 
native  Californians  and  the  United  States  that  they 
should  ask  for  annexation.  Fremont,  on  entering  the 
country  a  year  or  so  before  the  war,  set  up  another  policy, 
that  of  inaugurating  an  independent  government  of 
American  settlers,  called  the  "Bear  Flag  Bepublic," 
and  Californians  were  on  the  verge  of  war  with  this  gov- 
ernment when  the  Mexican  war  broke  out,  uniting  them. 

AMEKICANS  HELD  CALIFOKNIA 

However,  all  California  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Ameri- 
cans by  the  end  of  the  year,  and  Fremont  was  regarded 
as  the  hero  who  had  won  the  i  l  Golden  Gate ' '  by  his  energy 
and  decision.  General  Kearney  meantime  captured  Santa 
Fe,  and  New  Mexico  was  in  American  hands  with  almost 
no  loss  of  life.  By  the  end  of  the  year,  therefore,  all  the 
land  that  this  country  desired  was  in  our  hands,  but 
Mexico  itself  was  as  yet  unconquered.  \ 

While  Taylor  and  Fremont  had  been  gaining  victories, 
Scott  had  been  chafing  at  Washington.  He  had  asked 
to  be  sent  to  the  field,  but  the  administration  had  retained 
him  at  Washington  on  the  plea  of  needing  his  advice. 
The  truth  seems  to  have  been  that  Polk  regarded  Scott 
as  a  presidential  rival  and  hesitated  to  let  him  go  where 
he  might  earn  glory  and  distinction.  Finally,  when  he 
was  sent  in  January,  1847,  the  claim  was  made  that  he 
had  been  dispatched  to  dim  the  luster  of  Taylor's  vic- 
tories, or  at  least  to  divide  popular  support  with  Taylor, 
so  that  the  democrats  might  again  be  victorious  in  1848. 
Scott  and  Taylor  were  both  whigs. 


CAUSES  OF  TWO  MEXICAN  DISPUTES  267 

SCOTT  INVESTED  VERA  CKUZ 

Scott  invested  Vera  Cruz  in  March,  1847,  and  by  the 
27th  had  seized  the  fortress  that  was  thought  to  be  im- 
pregnable and  entered  the  city.  On  April  8th  he  started 
into  the  interior,  and  from  then  on  his  path  was  marked 
by  a  long  line  of  victories.  On  the  18th  he  captured 
Cerro  Gordo ;  the  19th,  Jalapa,  and  the  22d,  Perota.  May 
15th  he  entered  the  important  City  of  Puebla.  He  re- 
mained here  for  some  weeks,  then  advanced  toward  the 
capital,  and  on  August  10th  came  in  sight  of  the  city.  On 
August  20th  two  important  victories  were  won,  at  Con- 
treras  and  at  Churubusco.  He  captured  Molina  del  Rey 
September  8th,  and  five  days  later  the  victory  of  Chapul- 
tapec  gave  him  the  City  of  Mexico  itself,  which  he  entered 
on  the  following  day  with  an  army  of  only  6,000  men. 

WAR  PRACTICALLY  OVER 

The  war  was  practically  over,  but  the  victory  was  so 
complete  that  it  began  to  be  a  question  as  to  whether 
there  were  any  government  left  in  Mexico  worth  treat- 
ing with.  An  agitation,  spurred  on  for  the  most  part 
by  democrats,  was  begun  looking  for  the  annexation  of 
the  whole  of  Mexico,  but  Calhoun,  Webster  and  a  major- 
ity of  the  whigs  joined  hands  to  defeat  this  plan.  N.  P. 
Trist  was  sent  in  March,  1847,  to  Mexico  to  make  a  treaty 
of  peace.  Failing  in  this,  he  was  ordered  back  to  Wash- 
ington in  the  fall,  but  he  disobeyed  instructions,  and  on 
February  2,  1848,  he  concluded  a  treaty  in  harmony 
with  his  original  instructions.  President  Polk  sent  the 
treaty  to  Congress,  which  ratified  it,  and  on  May  30th  the 
war  was  declared  officially  at  an  end. 


268  CAUSES  OF  TWO  MEXICAN  DISPUTES 

MEXICANS  BKAVE  FIGHTERS 

The  Mexicans  had  fought  bravely  and  stubbornly,  in 
many  instances  outnumbering  the  Americans,  but  they 
lost  every  engagement  in  which  they  had  taken  part.  In 
part,  superior  generalship  and  training,  as  well  as  a 
greater  coolness  and  persistence  in  character  won  for  the 
United  States,  but  the  main  reason  was  the  science  and 
education  applied  in  the  equipment  of  the  armies  that 
brought  the  victory  to  our  side.  The  chief  results  of 
the  war  were  the  discrediting  to  a  large  extent  of  the 
democratic  party,  which  had  brought  on  what  the  mass 
of  the  people  felt  to  be  an  unjust  and  shameful  struggle, 
and  also  the  training  in  war  of  such  later  soldiers  as 
U.  S.  Grant,  "William  T.  Sherman,  Robert  E.  Lee,  Stone- 
wall Jackson  and  Jefferson  Davis.  Yet  while  all  issues 
for  the  time  appeared  to  be  settled,  the  sudden  acquisi- 
tion of  522,568  square  miles  of  territory,  to  be  carved 
into  slave  and  free  states,  was  the  means  of  hastening 
the  great  struggle  that  came  fifteen  years  later. 

WAES  OF  UNITED  STATES  AND  THE  TROOPS  ENGAGED 

This  is  in  brief  the  war  history  of  the  United  States, 
showing  how  many  men  were  engaged  in  each  conflict : 

U.  S.  Troops 

War                                            Date  Engaged 

War  of  the  Revolution 1775-1783  309,781 

Northwestern  Indian  Wars 1790-1795  8,983 

War  with  France 1798-1800  4,593 

War  with  Tripoli 1801-1805  3,330 

Creek  Indian  War 1813-1814  13,781 


CAUSES  OF  TWO  MEXICAN  DISPUTES  269 

War  of  1812 1812-1815  576,622 

Seminole  Indian  War 1817-1818  7,911 

Black  Hawk  Indian  War 1831-1832  6,465 

Cherokee  Disturbance 1836-1837  9,494 

Creek  Indian  War 1836-1837  13,418 

Florida  Indian  War 1835-1843  41,122 

Aroostook  Disturbances 1836-1839  1,500 

*  War  with  Mexico 1846-1848  112,230. 

Apache-Navajo  and  Utah  War 1849-1855  2,501 

Seminole  Indian  War 1856-1858  3,687 

Civil  War 1861-1865  2,772,408 

Spanish- American  War  April-December,  1898  274,717 

Filipino  Insurrection 1899-1900  60,000 

*Of  this  number  30,954  were  regulars  and  73,776  mili- 
tia and  volunteers.  War  began  April  14,  1846;  ended 
July  4, 1848. 

AMERICAN    FORCES    COMPETENT 

Military  experts  agree  that  either  to  untried  or  vet- 
eran troops  there  are  few  severer  tests  of  courage  and 
discipline  than  the  advance  into  a  hostile  city  where  every 
adobe  wall  is  a  parapet  bristling  with  hidden  foes  armed 
with  modern  weapons  and  goaded  by  the  desperation 
born  of  racial  hatred. 

Into  such  a  hornet's  nest  the  bluejackets  of  the  North 
Atlantic  Fleet,  less  than  ten  per  cent  of  whom  were  ever 
before  under  fire,  tramped  with  the  unflinching  steadi- 
ness of  tried  veterans  at  the  taking  of  Vera  Cruz. 

Boys  barely  out  of  the  naval  academy  stood  non- 
chalantly amid  a  storm  of  Mauser  bullets,  spat  out  from 
a  score  of  unseen  forts.  Then,  when  the  time  came  these 
gallant  striplings  from  Annapolis  led  into  hand-to-hand 
encounters,  amid  smashed  doors  and  shivered  windows, 


270  CAUSES  OF  TWO  MEXICAN  DISPUTES 

their  companies  of  firemen,  seamen,  gunners  and  coal 
passers — untried  but  seasoned  lads  from  a  thousand  in- 
land farms  and  peaceful  cities. 

RIFLES  SPAT  IN   THEIR  FACES 

Bines  cracked  in  their  faces,  shots  fell  from  every 
conceivable  type  of  small  arm  upon  their  devoted  heads, 
like  the  patter  of  ice  pellets  in  a  March  hailstorm.  And 
the  American  farm  hands,  firemen,  electricians  and  coal 
passers,  no  less  than  the  able  seamen,  the  gunners,  the 
bosuns  and  the  sharpshooters  of  the  crack  Marine  Corps, 
stood  as  stanch  and  charged  as  gamely  as  if  they  had 
been  graduates  of  Napoleon's  Old  Guard. 

Truly,  it  was  a  sight  to  warm  the  blood  of  any  Ameri- 
can. There  were  Americans  there  who  had  waited  im- 
patiently to  witness  that  spectacle  for  years;  waited 
while  their  hopes  languished  and  their  business  inter- 
ests palsied.  Two  such  men  stood  by  Ensign  Cresap's 
three-inch  field  piece  from  the  Florida  when  its  first 
shot  perforated  the  top  of  the  Benitor  Juarez  tower, 
scattering  the  remnants  of  its  hidden  snipers  amid  a 
shower  of  tumbling  timbers  and  masonry. 

IE"  A  DELIRIUM  OF  JOY 

One  of  these  Americans  was  threshing  his  arms  about 
in  a  very  delirium  of  joy.  Both  were  deaf  to  the  song 
the  Mauser  messengers  were  singing  all  about  us. 

The  one  flung  his  arms  about  the  other.  "God!  Old 
man,  did  you  see  that?"  he  bellowed.  "The  ray  has 
come  at  last!"  And  the  pair  of  them  executed  a 
demoniac  one-step  together  amid  the  patter  of  the  deadly 
rain. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 
THE  MEXICAN  SECRET  SERVICE 

ORGANIZATION    FORMED   BY   PORFIRIO   DIAZ   PUT   TO   ALL   SORTS 

OF     USES     AFTER     THE      DICTATOR^     RETIREMENT SPIES 

EVERYWHERE — MYSTERIOUS     DISAPPEARANCES     COMMON 

UNSAFE   TO   TALK   WITH  FREEDOM  IN   MEXICO  CITY  ABOUT 
THE  CURRENT  ADMINISTRATION. 

THE  Mexican  spy  system  is  probably  one  of  the 
most  widespread  in  the  world.    It  covers  every 
corner  of  the  Republic,  so-called,  and  no  man, 
however  humble  his  calling  or  how  exalted  his  official 
position,  is  safe  from  its  ramifications. 

Antonio  Carvalho,  an  Italian,  in  a  communication  to 
the  leading  newspapers  of  Florence,  published  early  in 
1913,  begged  them  to  interest  the  Italian  government  in 
the  disappearance  of  his  son,  Bernardo,  a  young  man 
who  had  resided  in  Mexico  City  for  two  years  and  had 
formed  the  acquaintance  of  several  wealthy  young 
Mexicans. 

ITALIAN   DROPPED   FROM   LIGHT 

Young  Carvalho  had  lived  in  the  United  States,  in 
Chicago  and  Los  Angeles  principally,  before  going  to 
Mexico,  and  he  was  given  to  boasting  of  his  American 

271 


272  THE  MEXICAN  SECRET  SERVICE 

citizenship.  One  day  in  June  of  the  year  above  men- 
tioned the  Italian  rode  out  alone  into  the  suburbs  of 
Mexico  City  ostensibly  for  the  purpose  of  calling  on  a 
friend.  The  horse  he  rode  returned  two  hours  later  with 
an  empty  saddle.    Carvalho  has  never  since  been  seen. 

After  waiting  three  months  in  vain  efforts  to  com- 
municate with  the  young  man  by  mail,  his  father  started 
for  Mexico  from  Florence  and  conducted  a  personal 
search.  The  old  gentleman  became  aware  that  some- 
thing was  wrong,  that  some  mystery  surrounded  his 
son's  mysterious  disappearance,  from  the  moment  he  set 
foot  in  Mexico  City.  While  he  was  treated  with  surface 
courtesy  everywhere  he  could  obtain  no  information 
about  his  son,  even  from  those  who  had  known  the  youth 
intimately. 

"Se  feu,  se  feu!  Quien  sabe  abonde?"  was  the  an- 
swer to  all  questioning. 

Gradually  it  was  forced  on  the  consciousness  of  the 
visitor  from  Italy  that  his  son  had  been  suspected  of 
complicity  with  some  revolutionary  scheme  and  had  been 
made  away  with  in  one  of  those  mysterious  ways  that  are 
part  and  parcel  of  the  Mexican  system.  It  developed 
that  young  Carvalho  had  been  severely  smitten  with  a 
very  beautiful  young  senorita  of  Mexico  City  and  that 
he  had  found  considerable  favor  in  her  eyes,  to  the  vast 
disgust  of  the  native  dandies  all  of  whom  courted  the 
young  woman  assiduously. 

A  CONSPIRACY  HATCHED 

Carvalho  Sr.  demonstrated  to  his  own  complete  con- 
viction, though  it  was  impossible  to  prove  the  matter  and 
useless  to  have  done  so  anyway,  that  Bernardo  Carvalho 


THE  MEXICAN  SECRET  SERVICE  273 

had  been  "tipped  off "  to  "La  Valle  Nacional,"  the  secret 
service,  as  an  enemy  of  the  government.  Within  two 
suns  the  Mexican  dandies  had  their  senorita  all  to  them- 
selves. What  happened  to  Carvalho  nobody  has  ever 
found  out  and  the  probability  is  that  nobody  will  ever 
find  out. 

When  Porfirio  Diaz  was  in  the  saddle  in  Mexico  he 
was  known  to  Mexicans  as  "The  Little  Eagle.' '  Even 
the  common  peon  knew  of  and  feared  the  secret  society 
which  was  one  of  Diaz's  most  deadly  weapons.  The 
superstitious  nature  of  the  people  rendered  them 
peculiarly  susceptible  to  fear  of  anything  so  mysterious 
as  the  "Valle  Nacional"  which  fixed  one  of  its  myriad 
eyes  on  some  poor  devil  in  the  morning  and  completely 
wiped  him  off  the  slate  of  human  affairs  before  night. 

THE  EYES  OF  THE  EAGLE 

' '  The  little  eagle  has  many  eyes ' '  was  the  frequently 
heard  remark  of  the  Mexican  who  desired  nothing  better 
than  to  be  let  alone  by  foreigners.  Now-a-days,  with  the 
shifting  governmental  control  of  the  country,  it  has  been 
insisted  in  some  quarters  that  the  secret  service  brought 
to  such  terrifying  perfection  by  Diaz  no  longer  exists, 
but  the  processes  of  the  old  regime  remain  very  much 
in  force  as  those  living  in  the  country  are  aware. 

In  fact  it  is  asserted  by  well  known  foreign  residents 
of  Mexico  City  that  under  the  Huerta  government  no 
man  could  be  considered  safe  even  in  his  own  family. 
Wives  were  watching  husbands  and  fathers  watching 
sons.  These  poor  wretches  were  tricked  by  specious  rep- 
resentations into  believing  that  by  such  espionage  they 
might  save  their  loved  ones  from  the  consequences  of 


274  THE  MEXICAN  SECRET  SERVICE 

suspected  sympathy  with  this  or  that  revolutionary 
party. 

When  the  suspicion  of  such  affiliation  or  sympathy 
had  been  verified  by  the  mother  of  her  son  or  by  the  sis- 
ter of  her  brother,  for  instance,  both  spy  and  spied  upon 
frequently  disappeared  from  the  face  of  the  earth. 

And  this  is  what  Carvalho,  the  Florentian,  said  when 
leaving  Mexico: 

"It  is  not  my  intention  to  decry  Mexico.  My  quarrel 
is  with  the  outrageous  tyrants  that  rule  Mexico — not 
with  the  country  or  the  common  people.  The  educated 
natives  are  the  most  charming  mannered  men  and  women. 
They  are  just  as  polite  as  Italians  are. 

"I  have  told  my  story  to  many  Americans  who  have 
replied  to  me  that  in  their  travels  all  over  Mexico  they 
never  encountered  anything  like  my  experience.  That 
may  be  true  or  it  may  be  that  the  interests  of  most  of 
the  Americans  I  met  were  identical — that  they  did  not 
desire  to  find  anything  wrong  with  Mexico — nothing  that 
would  interfere  with  the  existing  regime  or  hamper  the 
operations  of  American  business  enterprise. 

SELF  INTEKEST  GOVEENS 

"I  found  that  many  of  the  English  engaged  in  big 
business  affairs  in  Mexico  were  precisely  as  indifferent 
as  were  the  Americans  to  practices  that  called  aloud  for 
reform.  I  have  seen  them  sell  Mexican  girls  right  in  the 
heart  of  Mexico  City  for  anywhere  from  $200  to  $600 
and  no  protest  against  such  a  damnable  practice  was 
made  by  anybody. 

"I  saw  them  sell  one  girl  for  $500  who  had  been  born 
to  an  enslaved  father  and  mother  on  a  large  plantation. 


THE  MEXICAN  SECRET  SERVICE  275 

The  girl  was  beautiful  and  the  man  who  had  charge  of 
the  sale  expatiated  on  her  merits  in  a  lewd  way  as  he 
carried  on  the  negotiations. 

"I  protested  against  the  sale  and  the  fellow  told  me 
this  girl  would  be  vastly  better  off  as  the  mistress  of 
one  man,  because  if  she  stayed  with  her  father  and 
mother  on  the  plantation  she  would  be  used  as  a  play- 
thing by  the  sons  of  the  owner  of  the  place,  by  all  the 
guests  who  might  visit  there  and  finally  that  she  would 
be  forced  into  marriage  with  some  Chinaman  in  order 
that  she  might  breed  sons  to  become  slaves  for  the  mas- 
ter of  the  hacienda.' ' 


CHAPTEK  XXV 
THE  "TANGLEFOOT  PLANT' > 

THE  MAGUEY  PLANT  FROM  WHICH  PULQUE  IS  MADE  GROWS 
WILD — CULTIVATION  HAS  IMPROVED  THE  GROWTH — MEXI- 
CANS CALL  IT  FOOD,  DRINK,  HOUSE  AND  CLOTHING. 

CULTIVATING  the  maguey  plant,  from  which  pul- 
que is  made,  is  one  of  Mexico's  most  lucrative  in- 
dustries, ranking  almost  on  a  par  with  gold  and 
silver  mining,  coffee  growing  and  the  cultivation  of  trop- 
ical fruits  and  products.  The  plant  grows  to  best  advan- 
tage and  greatest  height  on  the  table  lands  of  Mexico. 
The  Plain  of  Apam,  not  far  from  the  City  of  Mexico,  is 
noted  for  producing  the  best  pulque  in  the  republic. 

LITTLE  CULTIVATION  IS  REQUIRED 

Acres  and  acres  of  the  huge  plants  can  be  seen  grow- 
ing on  the  great  haciendas.  The  trunk  of  the  plant  is 
a  pineapple  shaped  bulb  with  roots  widely  spread  out 
into  the  ground.  This  bulb  is  called  the  "corazon"  or 
heart,  and  contains  within  a  soft  vegetable  pulp.  From 
the  outside  huge  blades  ten  to  fifteen  feet  long  radiate, 
armed  along  their  edges  with  sharp,  strong  points,  and 
culminating  at  the  top  in  a  longer  and  stronger  spike. 

Being  a  desert  plant,  the  maguey  requires  none  of 

276 


THE  ''TANGLEFOOT  PLANT"  277 

the  cultivation  and  care  that  is  necessary  in  the  cultiva- 
tion of  other  crops.  From  the  time  of  its  planting  until 
the  sap  rises  in  its  heart  little  or  no  attention  is  neces- 
sary. In  setting  out  a  plantation  the  Mexican  divides 
his  land  into  fifteen  or  twenty  sections.  One  of  these  sec- 
tions he  plants  at  one  time,  another  at  another,  until  he 
has  so  arranged  the  tract  that  one  bunch  of  magueys  will 
mature  one  year,  the  next  bunch  the  ensuing  year  and 
so  on,  until  a  sort  of  continuous  chain  of  pulque  pro- 
ducers exist,  giving  an  inexhaustible  supply  year  after 
year,  and  an  equally  inexhaustible  supply  of  dinero  to 
the  owner  of  the  hacienda.  No  plant,  however,  will  give 
forth  sap  until  its  tenth  year,  and  then  only  upon  the 
very  eve  of  blossoming.  It  is  rarely  allowed  to  bloom, 
as  this  destroys  the  sap. 

The  Mexicans  have  a  favorite  couplet  extolling  the 
virtue  of  this  plant,  which  says : 

Comida,  beblda, 
Casa,  y  vestido. 

This  means  that  the  maguey  plant  is  "food,  drink, 
house  and  clothing.' '  Such  an  assertion  is  a  little  ex- 
aggerated, but  it  is  a  fact  that  from  the  maguey  one  can 
obtain  pulque,  tequila,  an  intoxicant  somewhat  resem- 
bling Scotch  whisky;  mescal,  like  tequila,  but  stronger; 
fuel,  thatching  material  for  the  adobe  hut  and  needles 
and  thread.  By  carefully  cutting  off  the  sharp  spike  at 
the  top  of  each  maguey  blade  and  following  the  strong 
fiber  which  extends  from  it  to  the  heart  of  the  plant, 
sewing  material  of  a  rude  sort  is  obtained.  The  poverty 
stricken  Indians  in  the  valleys  of  Mexico  use  this  primi- 
tive needle  and  thread  extensively. 


278  THE  "TANGLEFOOT  PLANT' ' 

HOW  THE  SAP  IS  GATHEKED 

When  sap  time  comes  the  sap  gatherer  cuts  into  the 
bulb  from  the  top  and  digs  out  the  corazon  a  few  inches. 
He  then  covers  the  cavity  with  a  maguey  blade  and  goes 
to  the  next  plant,  which  he  treats  in  a  like  manner. 
Within  two  or  three  hours  he  returns  to  the  first  plant 
and  finds  the  bulb  filled  with  sap — aqua  miel,  or  honey 
water,  it  is  called.  Into  this  he  dips  the  small  end  of  a 
queer  receptacle  made  from  the  Mexican  gourd.  It  is 
really  a  rude  siphon.  He  sucks  the  sap  into  the  gourd. 
Then  he  opens  a  large  bag  made  from  the  skin  of  a  pig, 
which  he  carries  on  his  shoulders,  and  pumps  the  sap 
into  it  from  the  siphon. 

When  newly  taken  from  the  bulb  the  sap  is  thick, 
white  and  sweet  and  tastes  something  like  sweet  cider. 
In  this  state,  while  not  yet  pulque,  it  is  very  agreeable 
and  not  the  least  intoxicating. 

For  three  or  four  months  repeated  visits  are  made  to 
every  plant  tapped  and  the  sap  withdrawn.  When  the 
last  drop  has  been  taken  from  it  the  great  plant  droops, 
its  blades  sag  to  the  ground  and  it  becomes  a  dirty  brown. 
It  is  then  dug  up  and  hauled  away  to  be  used  as  fuel  and 
thatching  and,  perhaps,  needles  and  thread. 

One  load  after  another  of  this  aqua  miel  the  gatherer 
gathers  in  the  pink  pigskin  to  the  building  on  the  hacienda 
where  the  pulque  is  made.  It  is  poured  into  vats  made 
of  cowhide.  The  hair  side  of  the  hide  is  uppermost,  so 
that  the  liquid  is  poured  on  the  hair. 

A  small  quantity  of  fermented  sap  is  placed  with  the 
fresh,  and  soon  a  great  white  foam  forms  on  the  top  and 
rises  into  a  sort  of  pyramid  as  fermentation  sets  in. 
Within  a  few  hours  the  fermentation  is  complete.    When 


THE  "TANGLEFOOT  PLANT"  279 

this  is  accomplished  there  is  no  longer  any  sweetness  left 
in  this  product.  It  is  a  thick,  sour  liquid,  sickening  to 
one  who  has  not  cultivated  a  taste  for  it.  There  is  noth- 
ing that  can  be  compared  to  the  taste  of  pulque,  nor,  for 
that  matter,  to  its  smell.  That  is  usually  enough  for 
most  visitors  to  the  country.  But  it  is  said  that  good 
pulque,  after  one  has  grown  accustomed  to  it,  is  an  ex- 
ceedingly agreeable  beverage. 

CARRY  IT  IN   PIGSKINS 

Once  fermented,  the  pulque  is  loaded  on  the  hacienda's 
own  trains  and  shipped  to  its  destination.  Often  a  peon 
will  own  a  few  maguey  plants  somewhere,  and  it  is  a 
common  sight  in  the  City  of  Mexico  to  see  one  of  them 
driving  a  diminutive  burro  laden  with  two  pigskins  full 
of  the  "liquor  divine/ '  or,  if  he  doesn't  own  a  burro, 
he  carries  the  pulque  filled  skin  on  his  back  to  the  cantina. 

When  it  is  first  shipped  pulque  is  no  more  harmful 
or  intoxicating  than  real  light  beer,  and  it  is  said  to  be 
beneficial  to  those  suffering  from  liver  and  stomach  trou- 
bles. But  no  sooner  does  it  reach  the  large  cities  than 
the  work  of  adulterating  it  begins.  Water  is  used  some- 
times. In  the  majority  of  cases,  however,  it  is  heavily 
doped  with  extracts  of  jimson  weed,  which  makes  it  ex- 
ceedingly intoxicating.  Two  glasses  of  it  will  make  a 
man  roaring  drunk.  And  to  this  cause  are  traced  largely 
the  degradation  and  misery  of  the  peon  class. 

This  drugging  continues  despite  the  attempts  of  the 
government  to  prohibit  it.  The  Indians,  after  having 
acquired  a  taste  for  the  doped  pulque,  refuse  to  drink 
the  unadulterated  product. 


280  THE  " TANGLEFOOT  PLANT' ' 

PULQUE    SHOPS    EVERYWHERE 

Cantinas,  or  pulque  shops,  can  be  found  on  almost 
every  corner,  and  each  one  glories  in  a  picturesque  title. 
Inside  they  are  gayly  decorated  with  paintings  of  saints, 
usually  of  "La  Virgen  de  Guadalupe,"  and  with  pictures 
of  a  religious  nature. 

Pulque  is  the  never  failing  beverage  of  the  servant 
class  of  Mexico.  Any  cargador,  or  porter,  upon  deliver- 
ing a  package,  will  give  forth  grievous  sighs  as  if  en- 
tirely worn  out  and  end  by  requesting  "Unos  centavos, 
senor,  para  mi  aquita." — "a  few  cents  for  the  little 
water." 

The  owners  of  some  of  the  large  haciendas  live  like 
feudal  lords  on  their  vast  estates.  They  have  a  large 
retinue  of  servants  and  retainers.  They  are  men  of 
great  wealth  and  power.  Each  hacienda  is  a  little  town 
in  itself,  with  its  collection  of  adobe  houses  and  stores, 
all  the  property  of  the  owner  of  the  ranch. 


CHAPTER  XXVI 
THE  SALUTE  TO  THE  FLAG 

FEW  NATIONS  HAVE  EVER  DEMANDED  IT — COMPLIANCE  CON- 
SIDERED HIGHLY  DEGRADING — WHY  HUERTA  DID  NOT 
COMPLY. 

HISTOEY  records  but  few  occasions  when  a  demand 
has  been  made  on  a  government  to  apologize  to 
another  government  and  to  salute  its  flag,  and  on 
fewer  occasions  still  has  the  demand  been  complied  with 
in  its  entirety. 

Henry  W.  Bowen,  ex-minister  to  Venezuela,  in  a 
statement  covering  the  subject,  says: 

"The  required  apology  has  generally  been  offered 
in  some  diplomatic  form  that  was  sufficiently  satisfac- 
tory to  the  aggrieved  government  and  that  at  the  same 
time  avoided  derogating  from  the  dignity  of  the  delin- 
quent government,  but  the  salute  of  the  flag  has  almost 
without  exception  seemed  too  humiliating  a  requirement 
to  fulfill.  Hence  Huerta  was  quite  ready  with  his  apol- 
ogy for  the  Tampico  incident,  but  balked  at  once  at  salut- 
ing our  flag  and  made  conditions  which  he  knew  we  would 
not  accept.  He  doubtless  felt  that  if  he  order  our  flag 
sahited  he  would  lose  what  prestige  he  has  and  be  driven 
ignominiously  from  power. 

281 


282         THE  SALUTE  TO  THE  FLAG 

MADE  SPAIN  APOLOGIZE 

"The  only  other  time  in  our  history  when  our  Gov- 
ernment publicly  demanded  from  an  important  foreign 
state  an  apology  and  a  salute  for  our  flag  was  in  1873, 
when  Spain  seized  the  Virginius  on  the  high  seas  while 
carrying  the  American  flag  and  towed  her  into  Santiago 
de  Cuba,  where  the  Spanish  authorities  tried  the  crew 
by  court-marshal  and  shot  thirty-seven  of  them. 

6 1  Our  Government  and  people  were  naturally  greatly 
incensed  and  war  seemed  imminent  and  very  probably 
would  not  have  been  averted  if  Spain  finally  had  not 
agreed  to  restore  the  Virginius  and  the  survivors  of 
the  crew  and  to  salute  our  flag  before  December  25, 1873. 
The  former  part  of  her  promise  Spain  daily  kept,  but 
she  did  not  salute  our  flag,  stating  as  her  reason  for  not 
doing  so  that  the  Virginius  had  no  right  to  fly  our  flag. 
The  question  thus  raised  was  rather  complicated,  and 
Spain  handled  it  so  diplomatically  that  we  did  not  press 
our  demand  for  the  salute  and  it  was  never  fired. 

THE   RESTAURADOE    CASE 

"Diplomats,  of  course,  are  familiar  with  the  difficul- 
ties in  securing  salutes  by  way  of  reparation  for  insults 
or  grievous  offenses,  and  so,  of  course,  are  naval  officers. 
I  confess  when  the  Restaurador  case  occurred  in  Vene- 
zuela in  1902,  while  I  was  minister  there,  that  I  had 
very  grave  doubts  as  to  whether  I  could  handle  it  with- 
out seriously  impairing  my  usefulness  to  the  Venezuelan 
government  as  well  as  to  my  own. 

"In  1902  the  so-called  Mator  revolution  was  well  un- 
der way  in  Venezuela,  and  was  causing  President  Castro 


THE  SALUTE  TO  THE  FLAG  283 

considerable  anxiety.  When  finally  the  revolutionists 
seized  the  important  Port  of  Ciudad  Bolivar  on  the  Ori- 
noco River  he  was  greatly  angered  and  ordered  his  war- 
ship Eestaurador  to  proceed  to  that  port  and  drive  the 
enemy  out  of  it. 

"The  distance  was  long,  and  it  was  weeks  before  the 
Eestaurador  returned  to  La  Guaira,  the  port  of  Caracas, 
and  before  the  captain  made  a  report  of  his  expedition. 
President  Castro  happened  to  be  at  La  Victoria  when 
the  report  reached  Caracas,  but  it  was  forwarded  to  him 
by  his  minister  for  foreign  affairs,  Dr.  Baralt. 

HOISTED  AMERICAN  FLAG 

"The  following  evening,  April  27,  1902,  at  7  o'clock, 
I  learned  from  confidential  and  trustworthy  sources  that 
the  captain  of  the  Eestaurador  had  approached  Ciudad 
Bolivar  flying  our  flag,  and  that  the  people  of  that  port, 
believing  one  of  our  warships  was  approaching,  flocked 
to  the  piers  to  give  it  a  hearty  welcome. 

"When  the  ship  was  within  a  short  distance  of  the 
shore  the  captain  opened  fire  on  the  multitude  and  killed 
many  men,  women  and  children.  He  continued  the  bom- 
bardment for  two  days,  and  was  reported  to  have  been 
' exceedingly  cruel  and  inhuman.'  Having  inflicted  what 
damage  he  could  and  having  almost  exhausted  his  sup- 
ply of  ammunition,  the  captain  withdrew  his  ship  at  the 
end  of  that  time  and  returned  directly  to  La  Guaira. 

A    BARBAROUS    BOMBARDMENT 

"The  action  of  the  captain  seemed  to  me  not  only 
barbarous  but  particularly  atrocious,  as  it  was  taken 


284         THE  SALUTE  TO  THE  FLAG 

while  his  ship  was  flying  our  flag.  I  undoubtedly  felt 
doubly  indignant  and  determined  to  obtain  satisfaction 
for  the  deplorable  incident,  as  I  had  had  no  end  of  trou- 
ble while  I  was  consul  general  in  Spain,  just  before  the 
outbreak  of  our  war  with  Spain,  to  keep  the  flag  of  my 
consulate  from  being  seized  and  dishonored  by  the  mob 
that  came  nineteen  times  to  get  possession  of  it. 

"I  realized,  however,  that  my  case  was  not  very 
strong,  for  I  had  no  proof  or  evidence  to  support  my 
forthcoming  demand.  For  that  reason  I  felt  that  I  could 
not  cable  to  Washington  and  ask  our  Government  to 
send  to  me  a  formal  ultimatum  to  present  to  the  Vene- 
zuelan government.  I  knew  that  I  had  to  act  on  my  own 
initiative  unless  I  took  time  to  secure  evidence  from  Ciu- 
dad  Bolivar  and  to  forward  it  to  Washington,  and  even 
then  I  knew  the  chances  were  that  a  long  diplomatic 
correspondence  would  follow,  and  the  matter  would  be 
ended  simply  by  an  expression  of  regret  carefully 
worded  by  the  Venezuelan  minister  for  foreign  affairs, 
so  as  to  mean  but  little  to  us  and  nothing  at  all  to  the 
Venezuelans. 

« 

WAS  UP  TO   THE   MINISTER 

"Morever,  I  knew  that  President  Roosevelt  was  so 
absorbed  in  his  domestic  policy  and  Secretary  Hay  so 
interested  in  his  Chinese  policy  that  they  would  not  thank 
me  for  adding  to  their  cares  and  burdens  by  bringing 
to  them  a  question  that  could  easily  develop  into  a  per- 
plexing case  of  assertions  and  denials. 

"On  the  other  hand,  I  was  somewhat  concerned  lest 
President  Castro,  when  he  learned  that  I  had  not  cabled 
to  secure  the  support  of  my  Government,  might,  in  his 


THE  SALUTE  TO  THE  FLAG  285 

usual  fashion,  enter  a  general  denial  and  absolutely  re- 
fuse to  discuss  the  matter  with  me. 

"As  our  warship,  the  Marietta,  was  at  the  time  in 
the  port  of  La  Guaira,  I  called  up  her  captain,  Captain 
Diehl,  on  the  telephone,  and  explained  to  him  the  situa- 
tion in  a  few  words,  and  asked  him  whether  the  Eestau- 
rador  was  still  in  port,  and,  if  so,  where.  He  answered 
that  she  was  lying  anchored  in  the  inner  port  near  the 
shore.  I  asked  him  whether  he  would  anchor  the  Marietta 
alongside  of  her  between  her  and  the  mouth  of  the  inner 
port.    He  said  that  he  would  early  the  following  morning. 

CALLED  ON  BAKALT 

"I  then  summoned  my  carriage  and  drove  at  once 
(my  diary  gives  me  the  facts)  to  the  home  of  the  minis- 
ter for  foreign  affairs,  Seiior  Baralt,  and  after  telling 
him  the  facts  in  the  case  and  characterizing  them  as  in- 
disputable, I  said:  'Your  captain  has  dishonored  the 
American  flag.  He  should  be  ordered  to  raise  it  and 
salute  it  and  your  government  should  apologize. 

"He  answered  that  he  had  not  heard  of  the  incident, 
and  requested  me  to  give  him  several  days  for  investi- 
gating it.  I  replied  that  I  could  concede  only  twenty 
hours  to  him,  as  I  felt  that  then  I  must  cable  all  the 
facts  to  my  Government.  I  then  suggested  that  quick 
action  on  the  part  of  his  government  would  prevent  ex- 
aggerated reports  from  being  spread  abroad,  and  that, 
as  our  people  are  very  sensitive  about  our  flag,  any  de- 
lay might  exasperate  them  and  compel  my  Government 
to  send  a  large  naval  force  here  so  as  to  obtain  satis- 
faction. 


286         THE  SALUTE  TO  THE  FLAG 

BAEALT  A  MIDGET 

"Senor  Baralt,  who  is  only  five  feet  tall  and  who  is 
generally  very  self-possessed,  looked  utterly  miserable 
and  did  not  talk  very  coherently. 

"The  following  morning  Captain  Diehl  informed  me 
that  he  had  anchored  the  Marietta  opposite  the  Bestaura- 
dor.  He  asked  whether  I  had  demanded  an  uncondi- 
tional salute  of  twenty-one  guns.  I  told  him  that  I  had. 
He  then  asked  me  whether  he  should  return  the  salute. 
I  said:  'Of  course;  if  they  apologize  we  must  accept 
it  in  the  most  courteous  way.'  So  it  was  agreed  that  we 
should  fire  gun  for  gun. 

1 '  Hardly  had  I  finished  my  conversation  with  Captain 
Diehl  before  Senor  Vombona,  the  Venezuelan  under- 
secretary of  state  and  the  Adee  of  a  long  succession  of 
Venezuelan  administrations,  was  announced  and  came 
into  my  office.  He  extended  both  of  his  hands  and 
clasped  mine,  saying  as  he  did  so  that  he  had  been  sent 
to  me,  as  his  chief,  Senor  Baralt,  was  ill  in  bed. 

APOLOGIES  IN  ORDER 

"He  then  stated,  as  he  drew  himself  up  to  a  very 
dignified  position:  'We  must  satisfy  the  United  States, 
and  we  will  do  what  you  have  asked.'  He  then  apol- 
ogized in  the  name  of  his  government  in  a  most  com- 
plete and  satisfactory  way,  and  promised  that  orders 
would  be  sent  early  in  the  afternoon  to  the  captain  of 
the  Bestaurador  to  hoist  the  American  flag  and  to  salute 
it  with  twenty-one  guns. 

"That  afternoon,  about  5  o'clock,  Captain  Diehl  in- 
formed me  over  the  telephone  that  Captain  Chalbaud 


THE  SALUTE  TO  THE  FLAG  287 

of  the  Eestaurador,  soon  after  4  o'clock,  had  displayed 
the  American  flag  at  the  masthead  of  the  Eestaurador 
and  had  saluted  it  with  twenty-one  guns,  which  he  had 
acknowledged  by  returning  gun  for  gun.  * ' 

"send  makines!" 

1 1  The  Marines  are  loafin '  leathernecks, 
A-lounging  'round  on  open  decks ' ' — 

That's  the  line  o'  talk  I've  listened  to  all  day. 
We'd  be  taught  to  do  our  drillin' 
In  a  manner  good  an'  fillin' 
If  the  knockin'  doughboy  non-coms,  had  their  way. 
But  let  greasers  start  to  fightin' 
Or  show  manners  uninviting 
"Send  Marines!"  is  what  the  big  'uns  always  say. 

We  don't  ride  no  buckin'  horses, 
We  ain't  even  "hostile  forces," 
We're  only  Uncle  Sammie's  ocean  cops. 
With  their  manners  aggravatin' 
Rookies  knock  our  lowly  ratin', 
But,  Lordy !  how  we  love  to  tackle  wops ! 
When  there's  trouble  starts  to  brewin', 
When  there's  signs  of  somethin'  doin' — 
' '  Send  Marines ! ' '    The  trouble  nearly  always  stops. 

We've  fought  in  sun  that's  frazzled, 
An'  we've  cashed  on  ice  that  dazzled, 
And  we've  kept  the  peace  with  bayonets  in  all  climes. 

We  ain't  lookin'  for  no  trouble, 

But  we  eat  it  at  the  double, 


288         THE  SALUTE  TO  THE  FLAG 

As  we  proved  in  Nicaragua  several  times. 
Just  as  sure  as  they  start  shootin' 
In  foreign  parts,  or  lootin' — 
' '  Send  Marines ! ' '    We  're  off  for  other  climes ! 

When  it's  peace,  they're  always  floutin', 
But  in  war,  three  cheers  and  shoutin', 

The  Marines  are  just  the  boys  to  do  the  trick. ' ' 
Then  otir  cruisers  stand  off  shore, 
You  can  hear  their  big  guns  roar, 
While  the  leathernecks  are  chargin'  double  quick. 
For  defendin'  our  legations 
Or  preservin'  baby  nations, 
i  i  Send  Marines ! ' '    They  know  we  '11  do  it  slick ! 


CHAPTEE  XXVII 
AMERICAN  MARINES  LEAD 

FIRST   ASHORE  WHEREVER  DANGER   IS — FIRST   UNDER   FIRE  AT 
TIENTSIN,  FIRST  IN  RELIEF  OF  PEKIN — A  BRAVE  CORPS. 

MAJOR  GENERAL  GEORGE  BARNETTE,  who 
was  in  command  of  the  marines  landed  in  the 
last  American  invasion  of  Vera  Cruz,  is  enthus- 
iastic in  praise  of  the  valor  and  bravery  of  the  enlisted 
men  of  that  branch  of  the  naval  service.  This  is  what 
he  said  after  the  occupation  of  the  Mexican  port : 

"The  men  and  officers  of  the  Marine  Corps  once 
more  have  demonstrated  their  worth  and  maintained  the 
traditions  of  our  branch  of  the  service  by  always  being 
in  the  first  line  to  bear  the  brunt  of  the  work  of  enter- 
ing foreign  territory." 

It  is  well  that  the  public  should  understand  just  who 
these  marines  are  who  are  risking  and  losing  their  lives 
for  the  honor  of  the  stars  and  stripes.  A  popular  im- 
pression is  that  every  fighting  man  who  lands  from  a 
warship  is  a  marine.  Not  so ;  the  warships  are  manned 
by  seamen,  or  bluejackets,  who,  in  time  of  need,  must 
become  soldiers  for  service  ashore.  The  marine  is  a  sol- 
dier pure  and  simple.  His  uniform  resembles  that  of  a 
soldier  except  that  he  has  an  actual  part  in  the  manning 
of  the  ship,  in  that  he  has  his  regular  duty  aboard,  with 

289 


290  AMERICAN  MARINES  LEAD 

a  " battle  station"  to  which  he  must  spring  whenever 
"battle  stations"  is  sounded,  and  the  ship  goes  into 
action.  Time  was  when  he  was  looked  upon  as  a  "police- 
man" on  board  ship,  but  nowadays  warships  need  no 
"policemen."  The  men  are  so  well  organized  into  di- 
visions, and  so  sensible  of  their  duties  to  themselves  and 
their  country,  that  any  extraordinary  supervision  would 
be  ridiculous.  It  is  only  in  such  crises  as  Vera  Cruz 
that  the  marines  have  a  chance  to  show  their  worth.  And 
they  never  have  failed. 

THE    MEN   WHO   FELL 

One  needs  go  no  further  back  than  the  record  of  April 
21,  1914,  to  demonstrate  this.  The  three  marines  who 
fell  in  the  first  day's  fighting  were  typical  of  the  men 
of  the  corps,  who  hold  no  privilege  so  high  as  that  of 
risking  their  lives  in  the  uniform  of  the  service.  The 
names  of  Haggerty,  Percy  and  Summerlin  are  enrolled 
among  those  of  American  heroes  who  placed  duty  and 
patriotism  first.  Haggerty 's  death  was  foretold  by  him- 
self. He  was  one  of  the  oldest  privates  in  the  service, 
and  more  than  once  had  been  in  the  first  line  of  action. 

Haggerty  had  been  under  fire  at  Samar  and  again 
at  Pekin.  He  had  gone  into  action  twice  in  Nicaragua 
and  had  seen  rifles  aimed  at  him  in  Hayti,  but  never 
before  had  he  been  struck  and  the  first  bullet  was  fatal. 
A  short  time  before  the  landing  at  Vera  Cruz  he  told 
a  friend: 

"Maybe  I  was  born  under  a  lucky  star,  but  sometimes 
I  have  thought  the  star  was  becoming  foggy.  If  we  go 
into  Mexico  some  of  us  will  get  ours,  and  I  suppose  it 
will  be  my  turn." 


AMERICAN  MARINES  LEAD  291 

Haggerty  said  this  while  the  men  of  the  fleet  were 
at  drill  at  Guantanamo  last  winter,  following  their  re- 
turn from  the  Mediterranean  cruise.  It  was  overheard 
by  Major  General  Barnette,  who  said  of  Haggerty  a  day 
or  so  later: — "A  good,  courageous  man,  a  true  soldier, 
Haggerty.  But  our  service  is  full  of  good  men,  and 
when  there's  work  to  do  they'll  do  it.  Never  yet  in  the 
history  of  our  country — in  the  century  or  more  of  our 
service — have  they  failed." 


His  words  apply  not  only  to  Haggerty,  Percy  and 
Summerlin,  but  to  the  hundreds  of  other  marines  who 
landed  with  them,  and  faced  the  sneaking  bullets  of  the 
Mexican  snipers,  but  who  were  spared  to  risk  their  lives 
again.  General.  Barnette  spoke  more  enthusiastically  of 
Haggerty  because  he  had  seen  him  under  fire  before. 
Both  of  them  won  their  medals  at  Pekin.  With  them 
at  the  same  time  was  Harry  Leonard,  who  lost  an  arm, 
but  won  the  gratitude  of  his  country,  and  Congress  voted 
him  a  medal,  extra  numbers,  and  soon  he  was  raised  from 
a  captaincy  to  a  major  in  the  Marine  Corps.  And  he 
wouldn't  exchange  his  commission  in  that  service  for  a 
similar  rank  in  any  other  service. 

Besides  those  men  and  Major  Catlin,  who  was  one 
of  the  last  men  to  leave  the  shattered  and  sinking  Maine, 
Colonel  Littleton  T.  Waller  also  has  won  international 
laurels  as  an  officer  of  the  United  States  Marine  Corps, 
because  of  his  service,  not  only  in  Pekin,  but  in  the 
Philippines  as  well. 

The  Marine  Corps  is  older  than  the  Republic  itself. 
An  act  of  the  Continental  Congress  in  1775,  a  year  be- 


292  AMERICAN  MARINES  LEAD 

lore  the  Declaration  of  Independence  was  made,  called 
it  into  being  and  stipulated  that  the  service  should  be 
organized  along  the  lines  of  that  then  in  existence  in 
Great  Britain.    One  historian  has  said : 

"The  marine  dates  back  to  the  days  of  the  Persian 
Empire.  Marines  are  especially  mentioned  in  connec- 
tion with  the  Battle  of  Lade,  in  the  time  of  Darius  I, 
King  of  Persia,  about  495  B.  C.  From  that  time  till  the 
present  it  has  been  recognized  that  the  efficiency  of  a 
ship  of  war  is  greatly  increased  by  the  addition  to  the 
regular  ship's  force  of  a  body  of  men  whose  peculiar 
training  fits  them  for  military  service  both  on  land  and 
at  sea." 

ARE  ALL  ARMED  MEN 

The  training  of  the  marines  above  ref ered  to  includes 
not  only  the  signal  drills,  searchlight  and  heliograph 
practice  in  which  the  soldiers  of  the  army  are  trained, 
but  also  the  drils  peculiar  to  the  management  of  a  ship 
of  war,  such  as  the  use  of  the  wireless,  wig-wag  signal- 
ing, semaphone  signaling,  and  in  many  cases  the  handling 
of  small  boats. 

The  "cutlass  crew"  of  the  last  century  is  gone.  In- 
asmuch as  future  naval  engagements  probably  will  be- 
gin at  a  range  of  ten  miles,  and  battleships  of  opposing 
forces  cannot  by  any  possibility  get  within  five  miles  of 
each  other,  the  marine 's  usefulness  as  a  boarder  is  gone 
forever,  but  there  is  plenty  of  work  left. 

To  say  that  the  Marine  Corps  is  the  military  branch 
of  the  United  States  Navy  possibly  best  describes  these 
men.    Josephus  Daniels,  secretary  of  navy,  said  of  them : 

"The  marines  and  bluejackets  rendered  valiant  serv- 


AMERICAN  MARINES  LEAD  293 

ice  at  Vera  Cruz.  The  marines,  as  well  as  the  bluejack- 
ets, proved  their  calibre,  always  understood  by  our  own 
people  as  well  as  those  of  other  nations.  It  is  the  marine 
who  is  always  called  upon  to  form  the  entering  wedge, 
to  blaze  the  trail  in  landing  on  foreign  shores." 

SEKVED  IN  REVOLUTION 

The  first  United  States  Marine  Corps  covered  itself 
with  glory  throughout  the  War  of  the  Revolution.  Be- 
lieving that  its  purpose  had  been  fulfilled,  Congress  form- 
ally disbanded  it  on  April  11,  1782,  but  so  conspicuous 
had  been  its  service  that  public  opinion  compelled  its 
reorganization  and  permanent  establishment  as  a  branch 
of  the  armed  forces  of  this  country  on  July  11,  1798. 
From  that  time  until  the  occupation  of  Vera  Cruz,  nearly 
116  years  later,  the  corps  has  distinguished  itself  every 
time  the  naval  forces  of  this  nation  have  been  called 
upon. 

OUR  AMERICAN  OUTPOSTS 

In  connection  with  Vera  Cruz  no  better  example  of 
duties  and  value  of  the  Marine  Corps  could  be  cited, 
suppose  that  it  were  impossible  to  transport  the  regu- 
lar army  to  the  scene  of  activity  before  actual  hostilities 
commenced.  In  that  case  it  would  be  the  Marine  Corps 
which  formed  the  outposts  of  the  American  occupation. 
Bluejackets  commanded  by  naval  officers  might  be  in 
charge  in  the  city,  but  the  sentry  and  picket  lines  would 
be  composed  of  the  men  of  the  Marine  Corps.  If  the 
telegraph  or  railway  lines  were  destroyed  by  the  Mexi- 
cans it  would  be  the  marines  who  would  be  sent  out  to 


294  AMERICAN  MARINES  LEAD 

repair  them.  They  have  engineers  to  drive  trenches 
and  throw  up  earthworks,  signal  men  to  carry  the  field 
telephone  lines  and  heliograph  instruments  out  to  the 
front,  reconnoitering  and  skirmish  parties — in  fact,  every 
branch  of  the  army  except  possibly  the  aviator  corps 
represented,  the  only  difference  being  that  the  marines 
are  carried  aboard  ship  and  the  soldiers  march  or  ride 
by  land. 

HAVE  GREAT  MOBILITY 

One  of  the  chief  features  of  their  training  is  that 
which  is  calculated  to  give  them  great  mobility,  and 
ability  to  land  at  a  moment's  notice.  A  battleship,  such 
as  the  New  York,  or  the  Wyoming,  carries  about  eighty 
marines.  These  can  be  paraded  in  camp  gear  and  landed 
as  a  hostile  force  for  actual  field  service  in  much  less 
time  than  could  a  similar  force  from  a  transport.  Their 
equipment  is  especially  designed  for  stowing  on  ship- 
board, and  also  for  the  greatest  service  ashore. 

The  popularity  of  the  Marine  Corps  is  largely  due 
to  the  variety  of  the  service  expected  of  it  and  rendered 
by  it.  While  the  soldier  may  languish  at  an  interior 
post  for  several  years,  the  marine  is  constantly  being 
shifted  from  post  to  post  or  off  on  a  cruise.  Since  1900 
there  has  been  only  one  year — 1907 — when  the  marines 
have  not  seen  service  on  some  foreign  shore.  Nearly 
four  hundred  of  them  enjoyed  the  cruise  to  Mediter- 
ranean ports  with  the  Atlantic  fleet  in  October,  Novem- 
ber and  December  of  1913. 

IN  A  THREE  DAYS'  BATTLE 

In  1900  the  marines  fought  practically  a  three  days' 
battle  with  the  Allies  at  Tientsin.    It  was  the  marines 


AMERICAN  MARINES  LEAD  295 

who  captured  a  hoard  of  silver  at  the  Tientsin  mint  and 
turned  back  into  the  treasury  of  China  $374,300,  as  their 
share  of  the  money  seized.  After  the  taking  of  Tientsin 
the  city  was  policed  by  the  marines,  and  the  allies  rested 
for  a  few  days  to  prepare  for  the  march  to  Pekin.  A 
conference  was  called  of  all  the  officers  in  command  to 
decide  whether  the  advance  should  begin  at  once  or 
should  be  still  further  deferred.  General  Eobert  Meade, 
commanding  the  United  States  marines,  was  ill,  and  sent 
Colonel  Littleton  T.  "Waller,  then  a  major,  to  represent 
him  at  the  conference.  Major  Waller,  as  junior  officer 
present,  voted  last  on  the  question  and  sat  silent  while 
the  others,  one  by  one,  gave  their  opinions  that  there 
was  no  immediate  necessity  for  the  advance  and  that 
the  troops  were  in  no  condition  to  begin  such  a  march 
without  several  more  days  of  preparation.  ^When  finally 
Major  Waller  was  appealed  to  he  said:  v 

"Gentlemen,  I  don't  know  just  what  the  rest  of  you 
mean  to  do,  but  the  marines  start  for  Pekin  at  6  o  'clock 
in  the  morning.'' 

Major  Waller's  stand  was  indorsed  by  his  superior 
and  the  marines  did  start  at  6  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
taking  the  allies  with  them. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 
MEXICANS  A  SAVAGE  RACE 

MISTAKE   TO  KEGAKD   COUNTRY  AS  LATIN — AVERAGE    MEXICAN 

MERELY    A    MARAUDING    INDIAN MASSES    DEGRADED    FOR 

CENTURIES. 

MEXICO  is  not  a  country  with  a  Latin  civilization. 
It  is  an  area  of  three-quarters  of  a  million  square 
miles  inhabited  by  people  having  a  savage  strain. 
Remember  the  stories  you  have  read  in  American  his- 
tory of  Indian  raids  and  the  warfare  between  the  col- 
onists and  the  Indians  and  you  will  have  a  fairly  ac- 
curate idea  of  what  the  average  Mexican  tighter  is. 
There  is,  however,  this  difference  between  him  and  the 
Indian.  The  Mexican  peon  is  not  as  a  rule  of  that  tough- 
ness of  fiber  from  which  warlike  races  are  made.  He 
is  more  indolent  and  peaceable,  though  just  as  blood- 
thirsty. He  can  easily  be  persuaded  to  quit  his  pastoral 
or  agricultural  pursuits  and  when  properly  led  makes 
anything  but  a  bad  soldier.  Without  leadership  the 
Mexican  will  not  go  on  the  warpath,  though  he  enjoys 
it  once  he  is  on  his  way. 


The  average  Mexican  is  quite  a  different  thing  from 
a  civilized  man,  and  this  is  what  the  American  people 

296 


MEXICANS  A  SAVAGE  RACE  297 

have  been  unable  to  comprehend.  They  have  treated 
and  thought  of  the  Mexican  as  one  capable  of  under- 
standing them  and  their  motives.  It  would  be  little  more 
absurd  to  expect  a  child  to  understand  the  Constitu- 
tion of  the  United  States  than  to  expect  the  Mexican 
to  do  so.  He  can  talk  about  it,  can  learn  it  by  rote,  but 
the  ideas  mean  nothing  to  him.  He  understands  force 
and  selfishness,  and  any  policy  based  on  the  idea  that 
he  is  able  to  comprehend  unselfishness  or  a  desire  to 
help  him  for  his  own  good  is  sure  to  appear  to  him  as 
a  lie  intended  to  cover  some  self-seeking  or  weakness. 

According  to  the  last  census,  Mexicans  are  twenty 
per  cent  white,  or  nearly  white,  and  the  other  eighty 
per  cent  mixed,  or  Indian.  Any  one  with  a  trace  of 
white  blood  is  classed  as  white,  though  he  may  have  a 
complexion  of  the  hue  of  a  ripe  olive.  This  is  unim- 
portant in  a  way,  but  the  American  idea  is  that  Mexico 
is  a  white  nation,  and  here  is  a  first  error,  leading  to 
others.  Mexico  is  no  more  a  white  nation  than  Java  is, 
and  not  nearly  as  civilized. 

NATION   DEGRADED   BY    SPANIARDS 

For  three  centuries  the  Spanish  did  their  utmost 
to  degrade  the  inhabitants  of  Mexico.  In  the  years 
which  have  elapsed  since  Mexico  became  independent 
turmoil  has  left  no  time  for  any  definite,  intelligent 
and  long  continued  effort  to  uplift  the  people.  The  fact 
that  Mexicans  speak  Spanish  and  have  Spanish  names 
does  not  civilize  them  any  more  than  the  fact  that  their 
law  is  based  on  the  Code  Napoleon. 

There  exist  educational  and  wealthy  Mexicans  in 
large  numbers,  graduates  of  American  schools  and  col- 


298  MEXICANS  A  SAVAGE  RACE 

leges  some  of  them  are.  But  they  do  not  form  the  bulk 
of  the  population.  It  seems  as  unfair  to  civilization 
to  call  a  man  anything  but  a  savage  who  believes  that 
his  opponent  should  be  killed  as  that  the  road  to  peace 
lies  through  massacres. 

FATTENED    ON    THE    PEON 

The  educated  and  wealthy  Mexicans  have  done  little 
or  nothing  to  raise  their  fellows  of  the  peon  class.  They 
have  exploited  the  peon  for  their  own  gain. 

Failure  to  understand  these  conditions  is  the  explana- 
tion of  the  trouble  between  the  United  States  and  Mex- 
ico. It  is  pathetic  to  realize  that  the  unselfishness  and 
the  fine  ideals  of  Americans  have  caused  them  trouble. 
Their  own  purity  of  motive  made  it  impossible  for  them 
to  understand  the  nature  of  the  people  they  were  deal- 
ing with  and  made  their  policy  in  dealing  with  them 
disastrous. 

The  constitutionalist  movement  is,  however,  in*  some 
degree  a  popular  movement.  The  Diaz  gang,  or  cien- 
tificos,  were  doing  what  the  educated  and  wealthy  class 
have  always  done,  oppressing  the  poor.  They  had  done 
this  so  long  and  so  successfully  that  a  revolution  was 
necessary  to  give  the  peon  a  chance  to  get  enough  to 
live  on.  Madero  did  head  a  popular  uprising  of  a  sort. 
The  constitutionalists  are  continuing  that  movement, 
though  there  is  not  a  leader  among  them  who  has  as 
near  his  heart  the  welfare  of  the  people  as.  his  own 
gain.  This  popular  element  has  been  utilized  to  its  ut- 
most to  gain  the  sympathy  of  the  United  States. 


MEXICANS  A  SAVAGE  RACE  299 

STRONG   HAND  NEEDED 

If  the  constitutionalists  succeed,  the  people  may  for 
a  time  be  better  off,  but  until  some  power  comes  into 
Mexico  strong  enough  to  hold  in  check  the  wealthy  class 
the  peon  has  nothing  to  hope  for  in  the  way  of  ad- 
vancement. 

The  typically  Mexican  phase  of  the  constitutionalist 
movement  is  then  simply  that  a  number  of  leaders  have 
taken  advantage  of  the  unsettled  conditions  and  like  the 
old  robber  barons  or  more  like  the  older  Indian  raiders 
have  gone  on  the  warpath  with  their  followers. 

The  story  of  how  these  various  leaders  came  to  com- 
bine and  how  instead  of  cases  of  disconnected  brigand- 
age their  operations  were  made  to  appear  as  parts  of  a 
unified  and  spontaneous  movement  belongs  to  the  more 
sordid  phase  of  the  constitutionalist  affair,  the  Ameri- 
can phase. 

The  murder  of  Madero  left  the  country  in  a  condi- 
tion in  which  it  was  possible  to  continue  the  pleasant 
work  of  making  war,  for  the  United  States  refused  to 
recognize  the  only  man  who  might  have  kept  peace.  This 
condition  was  immediately  taken  advantage  of  by 
various  leaders — or  bandits — to  start  war  on  the 
"usurper,"  or  in  other  words  to  gather  in  what  riches 
they  could  for  themselves. 

THE    WASHINGTON    JUNTA 

Here  is  where  the  cleverness  of  a  certain  group,  we 
will  say  of  Americans,  came  in.  They  saw  the  possi- 
bility of  unifying  these  outbreaks,  which  had  nothing 
in  common  but  the  desire  for  loot,  into  a  coherent  move- 


300  MEXICANS  A  SAVAGE  RACE 

ment  which  could  hope  to  cope  with  the  forces  of  the 
de  facto  government.  To  do  this  it  was  necessary  to 
get  the  backing  of  the  only  government  which  can  in- 
terfere in  Mexican  affairs,  and  this,  the  men  proceeded 
to  do.  The  whole  early  part  of  the  constitutionalist 
revolutionary  movement  was  managed  from  Wash- 
ington. 

It  was  necessary  to  have  some  head  of  the  move- 
ment to  make  it  appear  other  than  it  was,  an  outbreak 
or  series  of  outbreaks  of  brigandage.  This  man  was 
found  in  the  nonentity  Carranza.  His  recognition  as 
first  chief  of  the  constitutionalist  movement  came  about 
not  through  his  own  force  but  through  the  ability  of  the 
group  which  has  its  headquarters  in  a  certain  tall  office 
building  in  Washington.  Carranza  has  always  been  amen- 
able to  the  suggestions  of  this  group. 

AN  EFFECTIVE   ORGANIZATION 

Once  the  organization  of  the  movement  was  accom- 
plished the  actual  organization  of  the  various  groups 
into  a  more  or  less  homogeneous  army  proceeded  with 
rapidity.  It  was  simply  a  case  of  a  small  effective 
organization  meeting  and  overcoming  a  number  of 
loosely  organized  bands.  When  a  man  was  regarded 
as  dangerous,  that  is  as  a  potentially  strong  leader,  he 
was  shoved  into  the  background  and  given  no  chance  to 
advance  himself. 

Take  Obregon  as  an  example.  He  is  by  many  con- 
sidered the  only  really  strong  man  who  at  the  same 
time  has  intelligence  enough  to  become  a  second  Diaz. 
He  was  successful  in  his  operations  and  was  as  a  con- 
sequence feared,  and  therefore  was  gently  kept  away 


MEXICANS  A  SAVAGE  RACE  301 

from  the  points  of  activity  where  he  could  acquire  addi- 
tional influence,  and  at  the  same  time  what  influence  he 
had  was  skilfully  undermined. 

VILLA  MADE  GOOD 

The  only  mistake  this  group  of  promoters  made  was 
in  underrating  Villa.  Or  perhaps  they  correctly  esti- 
mated him,  but  the  sudden  series  of  accidents  that 
brought  him  to  the  front  of  the  constitutionalist  leaders 
was  more  than  they  could  handle. 

The  greatest  achievement  was  the  manner  in  which 
the  Benton  affair  was  handled.  By  the  happy  thought 
of  taking  away  the  responsibility  of  the  matter  from 
Villa  after  he  Had  stood  off  the  United  States  as  long 
as  he  could  and  putting  it  on  Carranza,  the  issue  be- 
came so  muddled  that  nothing  came  of  it.  Further,  by 
treating  with  Carranza  and  recognizing  that  he  had  the 
right  to  interfere  between  the  United  States  and  the 
murderer,  the  state  department  came  very  near  recog- 
nizing Carranza  as  the  head  of  a  state. 


CHAPTER  XXIX 
VILLA  CALLS  MAAS  TRAITOR 

HOW  THE  PLOT  UNFOLDED — MAAS  FINDS  HIMSELF  EEBLUFFED 
BY  VILLA — LATTER  REFUSES  TO  FIGHT  AMERICANS  AT 
FORMER'S  BIDDING. 

ONE  of  the  most  interesting  developments  of  the 
situation  during  the  intervention  negotiations  by 
the  A.  B.  C.  governments,  came  when  General 
Maas,  the  federal  commander  at  Tampico,  in  a  letter  to 
General  Villa  urged  the  latter  to  give  aid  to  the  federals 
in  repelling  "the  American  invasion."  General  Villa 
in  his  reply  denounced  Maas  as  a  traitor  and  a  seeker 
after  personal  ends.  At  this  time  there  were  repeated 
assertions  of  President  Huerta's  intention  to  abdicate 
and  take  refuge  on  a  foreign  war  vessel. 

General  Maas  wrote  to  General  Villa  as  follows: 

THE  MAAS  LETTER 

To  General  Francisco  Villa: 

I  have  received  instructions  to  notify  the  revolution- 
ary chiefs  that  American  intervention  in  Mexico  is  an 
accomplished  fact. 

The  United  States  of  the  North  have  committed  a 
grave  offense  against  Mexico  by  disembarking  troops 

302 


VILLA  CALLS  MAAS  TRAITOR  303 

in  Vera  Cruz  on  April  21,  and  by  taking  similar  action 
at  Salina  Cruz  two  days  later. 

This  act  alone  constitutes  the  intention  of  war  and 
this  is  the  supreme  moment  to  call  on  the  patriotism 
of  all  Mexicans  to  present  a  united  front  and  forget  our 
differences  in  the  intense  love  of  a  country  of  which 
we  are  possessed. 

We  can  consider  the  enemy  only  as  a  foreigner,  who 
in  the  most  unjust  and  ignoble  manner  has  stepped  upon 
the  holy  soil  of  our  fatherland. 

It  is  well  that  the  North  Americans,  following  the 
hypocritical  and  undignified  conduct  which  they  have 
used  in  all  cases  of  intervention,  have  declared  that  they 
will  not  fight  against  the  revolutionists,  but  only  against 
the  government ;  but  it  is  clearly  to  be  seen  that  this  con- 
duct is  for  no  other  purpose  than  to  keep  us  divided 
and  make  easier  their  conquests.  As  Mexican  patriots 
we  should  not  permit  foreign  nations  to  mix  in  our 
internal  affairs. 

CALLS    FOR    A    RALLY 

We,  therefore,  call  upon  our  brothers  to  rally  to  the 
common  cause  for  the  defense  of  the  national  integrity. 
You  could  not  more  nobly  yield  your  present  position 
than  for  the  purpose  of  rallying  to  the  cause  of  the 
whole  of  Mexico,  that  we  may  all  march  together  against 
the  invading  Yankees.  I  have  such  faith  in  your 
patriotism  that  I  do  not  doubt  that  the  forces  of  your 
command  will  rally  to  fight  the  invasion  of  the  Ameri- 
cans. 

I  reiterate  to  your  assurances  of  my  distinguished 
consideration. 


304  VILLA  CALLS  MAAS  TRAITOR 

THE    REPLY    OF    VILLA 

General  Villa's  answer  follows: 

"In  answer  to  your  letter  of  April  28th,  in  which,  in 
accordance  with  your  instructions,  you  invite  me  to 
march  with  you  against  the  foreign  invaders  of  our 
country,  I  would  say  that  I  understand  your  actions  fully 
and  also  the  present  diabolical  machinations. 

' 'I  know  that  as  an  accomplice  you  took  part  in  the 
infidelity  and  treason  of  February,  1913  (Madero's 
death).  This  is  perfectly  well  understood  and  you 
should  know  that  we  cannot  pardon  it,  and  also  know 
that  it  will  be  the  cause  of  your  ruin. 

"I  therefore  give  you  this  answer,  only  because  your 
official  request  and  my  answer  are  historical  documents, 
and  I  owe  to  posterity  an  explanation  of  my  conduct. 

PLANNED  FOR  INTERVENTION 

"I  know  that  the  cientificos,  by  various  processes, 
have  up  to  this  time  sought  to  bring  about  North  Ameri- 
can intervention  in  Mexico.  It  is  known  without  doubt 
that  the  coming  of  the  Americans  was  desired  and  pro- 
voked by  you.  The  manner  in  which  you  have  excited 
internal  troubles  and  then  called  on  all  Mexicans  to  help 
fight  the  external  troubles  is  clear  to  all  the  world. 

"General  Huerta  and  you  did  not  show  much  wis- 
dom when  you  were  converted  into  instruments  of  the 
cientificos  and  brought  about  the  assassination  of  Presi- 
dent Madero,  Vice  President  Pino  Suarez  and  some 
other  liberal  democrats,  because  you  did  not  realize  that 
the  blood  of  the  heroes  who  started  the  democratic  move- 
ment in  1910  would  cause  a  civil  war  which  would  lead 
to  your  ruin. 


VILLA  CALLS  MA  AS  TRAITOR  305 

"Now  you  desire  to  provoke  a  foreign  war  to  save 
yourselves  from  the  disaster  coming  from  the  civil  con- 
flict. You  show  even  less  wisdom  when  you  pile  up 
mountains  of  machinations  and  lies  which  will  crumble 
about  your  ears. 

"You  have  sought  to  make  this  union  between  your- 
selves and  the  constitutionalists  who  are  under  arms, 
and  with  the  pretext  of  a  foreign  war  you  seek  to  arm 
many  Mexicans  whose  sympathies  are  not  with  you,  but 
whose  patriotism  you  expect  to  exploit,  without  reflect- 
ing that  you  are  about  to  arm  a  people  who  in  justice 
would  chastise  your  crimes.  These  same  people,  who 
have  discovered  you  are  an  assassin  of  democracy,  you 
seek  to  win  over  by  starting  a  war  against  a  foreign 
nation  to  serve  your  personal  interests  and  those  of 
your  party. 


TEEMS  HUERTA  STUPID 

"It  will  soon  be  proved  that  the  satanic  declaration 
which  you  traitors  to  the  fatherland  have  made,  in  stat- 
ing that  we  have  formed  a  union  with  the  North  AmerL 
cans,  is  a  stupid  assertion  which  will  cost  you  your 
existence  and  bring  to  your  families  an  eternal  shame. 

"The  constitutionalists  have  the  desire  to  do  all  pos- 
sible compatible  with  the  national  dignity  to  avoid  a 
foreign  war,  but  if  we  are  not  able  to  avoid  it  we  will 
face  two  enemies,  the  powerful  stranger  and  the  de- 
praved compatriots. 

"For  constitution  and  reform, 

"Francisco  Villa, 
"General  in  Chief.' ' 


306  VILLA  CALLS  MAAS  TRAITOR 

On  the  same  day  that  these  letters  were  made  public, 
May  5,  1914,  General  Obregon,  commander  of  the  divi- 
sion of  the  northwest  of  the  rebel  army;  General  Pablo 
Gonzales,  commander  of  the  northeast  division;  General 
Panfilo  Natora,  commanding  the  central  division;  Gen- 
eral Caballero,  commanding  the  besieging  forces  at 
Tampico,  and  others  refused  proposals  that  they  unite 
with  the  federal  troops  to  repel  an  American  invasion. 

It  was  learned  that  the  railroad  between  Saltillo  and 
San  Luis  Potosi  had  been  cut  by  rebels. 


CHAPTER  XXX 
VILLA'S  VISION  OF  THE  FUTURE 

WOULD    ABOLISH   ARMY DO    AWAY    WITH    GEAFT GIVE    EVERY 

MAN  A  CHANCE MAKE   MEXICO  A  POOR  MAN'S  COUNTRY. 

AROUND-BELLIED  Mexican  with  black  hair  and 
bad  teeth  sat,  rather  slouched,  in  an  ordinary 
kitchen  chair  in  the  rear  room  of  an  adobe  house 
in  Juarez.  His  wide  brimmed,  mode-colored  sombrero 
was  pushed  on  the  back  of  his  apple-shaped  head  and 
the  curly,  uncombed  hair  tumbled  down  his  forehead 
like  mattress  stuffing. 

High,  buckled  riding  boots  covered  his  fat  legs  to  the 
hips  and  a  short  khaki  jacket  completed  the  uniform 
except  for  the  ever-present  six-shooter  which  sagged  at 
his  hip  and  showed  a  wide  leather  belt  filled  to  the  last 
loop  with  wicked,  steel-nosed  revolver  cartridges. 

There  was  nothing  to  indicate  the  fighting  man  in 
the  round  face.  The  mouth  of  this  fighting  man  of  the 
mountains  has  a  weak,  drooping  look  like  an  old  timer 
in  a  rogue's  gallery.  Pancho  Villa  probably  never  heard 
of  adenoids,  but  it  would  not  take  an  American  doctor 
more  than  two  minutes  to  find  them  in  his  throat,  for 
Don  Pancho  is  a  mouth  breather,  and  when  he  is  intensely 
interested  in  some  question  put  to  him  his  head  drops 
slightly  forward,  his  mouth  opens  until  his  chin  rests 

307 


308  VILLA'S  VISION  OF  THE  FUTURE 

on  the  band  of  a  collarless  cotton  shirt  and  the  black, 
decayed  front  teeth  show  through  the  ragged  and  un- 
combed mustaches. 

A  flat,  Indian  nose  divides  the  face  with  extended 
lobes  and  wide  nostrils. 

COLOR  OF  OLD  LEATHER 

Villa's  face  is  the  color  of  old  saddle  leather. 

It  is  the  upper  face  that  contains  the  fighting  quali- 
ties, and  these  center  in  a  pair  of  bead-like  eyes  that 
are  as  black  as  eternal  midnight  except  for  a  number  of 
little  brown  splotches  on  the  retina  that  give  the  eyes 
a  peculiar,  cat-like  expression  which  is  increased  when 
Villa  squints  the  eyelids  until  his  eyes  appear  like  nar- 
row slits. 

A  fine,  dome-like  forehead  with  compressed  temples 
show  the  brains  that  have  made  this  remarkable  man  a 
leader  of  a  nation. 

VILLA   TALKS   MODESTLY 

Villa  has  none  of  the  swagger  of  the  self-made  hero. 
He  hates  to  talk  about  himself  worse  than  he  hates 
Huerta  and  his  peon  federals.  But  when  asked  about 
his  country  and  its  future  his  eyes  lighted  with  the  fires 
of  enthusiasm. 

"Ah,  it  is  of  the  future  that  you  would  have  me 
talk.  That  is  to  my  liking,  for  I  have  laid  out  under 
the  stars  in  the  field  and  thought  much  of  my  country 
and  what  she  could  be  if  there  were  no  land  robbers  and 
cientificos  (the  ruling  class  which  gathered  around  Diaz), 
if  her  own  people  did  not  ravish  her  bosom  and  if  we 


VILLA'S  VISION  OF  THE  FUTURE  309 

could  have  such  a  grand  government  as  you  in  the 
Estados  Unidos  have  enjoyed  so  long  at  the  price  of 
your  forefathers'  blood. 

"My  Mexico  is  just  where  your  country  was  when 
it  overthrew  England  except  that  our  enemies  are  within 
our  country  and  are  much  harder  to  handle,  for  they  are 
of  the  most  intelligent  class  and  have  great  advantage 
in  means  and  ability. 

"But  we  will  win  just  as  your  ragged,  undrilled 
troops  of  the  war  with  England  won  because  they  were 
fighting  for  the  rights  of  their  children  and  their  chil- 
dren's children. 

"For  myself  I  wish  nothing.  I  am  not  an  educated 
man  as  are  the  cientificos.  I  have  never  seen  the  inside 
of  a  schoolhouse  and  I  only  learned  to  write  my  name 
and  to  read  a  little  while  I  was  in  prison  at  Mexico 
City.  But  patriotism  is  not  a  matter  of  education,  and 
I  do  not  think  any  Mexican  has  more  love  for  his  coun- 
try than  I,  for  I  would  lay  down  my  life  that  it  might 
be  free. 

WOULD  ABOLISH  THE  ARMY 

"My  Mexico  of  the  future  will  have  no  oppressive 
armies  as  did  Porfirio  Diaz  in  the  past  to  maintain  him- 
self and  his  horde  of  grafters.  There  will  be  no  need 
for  an  army  after  the  work  which  we  have  started  has 
been  completed.  Instead  of  the  roar  of  cannon  and  the 
rattle  of  rifles,  the  click  of  the  looms  will  be  heard  and 
everyone  will  have  work,  the  children  will  have  schools 
and  all  will  be  happy. 

"Then  do  I  wish  to  retire  to  one  of  the  army  colonies 
where  my  brave  boys  are  to  be  cared  for  as  long  as  they 


310  VILLA'S  VISION  OF  THE  FUTURE 

live  and  there  will  I  watch  my  country  develop  and  pros- 
per. That  is  all  I  wish,  for  I  will  have  the  satisfaction 
of  knowing  that  I  had  a  little  part  in  the  change  and 
that  will  be  happiness  enough  for  any  man. 

GAVE  HIS   ONLY  SON   TO  WAR 

"I,  who  have  made  much  war,  would  have  no  more 
of  it.  I  know  what  war  means.  I  have  seen  my  broth- 
ers suffer  and  die  on  the  desert  with  appeals  for  water 
that  I  could  not  answer  because  there  was  no  water. 

"I  have  seen  women  and  children  driven  from  their 
homes  and  shot  down  as  they  ran.  I  have  given  my  only 
son  to  this  war,  and  what  more  could  any  man  give  than 
his  only  son? 

"But  there  can  never  be  peace  so  long  as  the  few 
crush  the  many  under  the  heels  of  their  power.  This 
must  be  a  free  country  before  it  can  be  free  of  war.  For 
this  reason  I  intend  to  make  this  war  the  last  one  Mexico 
will  ever  have  or  ever  want. 

<  <  My  friend  Francisco  Madero  tried  to  give  my  people 
peace  with  prosperity,  but  his  enemies  were  too  power- 
ful for  him  and  he  gave  up  his  life  for  his  country.  But 
he  did  not  do  the  work  that  was  left  to  him  as  it  should 
have  been  done.  He  hoped  to  spare  good  Mexican  blood 
by  making  peace  with  the  enemy.  That  led  to  his  death ; 
and  the  revolution  which  I  command  does  not  intend 
that  this  mistake  shall  occur  again. 

"For  years  and  years  Mexico  has  been  the  hunting 
ground  of  men  who  cared  for  nothing  but  wealth,  even 
at  the  sacrifice  of  human  life.    Their  day  is  ending.'' 

"Do  you  consider  the  United  States  as  your  friend 
and  a  friend  of  Mexico  V9 


VILLA'S  VISION  OF  THE  FUTURE  311 

UNITED  STATES  MEXICO'S  FKIEND 

"What  other  thought  could  anyone  have  who  has 
watched  the  great  government  at  Washington  in  its 
dealings  with  our  people? 

"You  have  been  patient  when  many  were  clamoring 
for  war.  You  have  been  fair  when  the  drunkard  at  the 
national  palace  was  doing  everything  to  force  you  to 
fight  in  order  to  save  his  game. 

"You  have  aided  our  cause  when  we  had  no  friend 
and  the  world  was  against  us.  Is  it  gratitude  that  we 
should  turn  against  our  friends  and  join  with  that  in 
Mexico  City  whose  valor  is  all  gained  from  vintage  and 
who  cares  all  for  self  and  nothing  for  his  country! 

"It  is  such  as  he  that  we  are  fighting  in  this  revolu- 
tion, and  our  work  cannot  be  finished  until  such  men 
as  Huerta  are  pushed  from  the  presidential  chair  into 
the  drunkard 's  grave  and  clean:minded  men  such  as  your 
great  President  Wilson  are  in  control  of  affairs. 

"We  have  them  in  Mexico.  There  is  such  a  thing 
as  honest  Mexicans,  and  when  we  reach  Mexico  City  and 
take  over  the  government  there  you  will  see  that  we 
can  govern  ourselves,  once  given  a  chance. 

"But  what  chance  has  the  poor  against  the  rich  when 
right  here  in  this  very  state  of  Chihuahua  which  gave 
me  birth,  at  San  Pedro  de  Guierrero,  almost  all  of  the 
land  has  been  owned  by  one  man,  Luis  Terrazas,  who 
obtained  his  power  from  Diaz  f  His  tenants  were  slaves 
and  his  royal  family  lived  in  Chihu.ah.ua  as  do  kings  and 
dukes  abroad. 


312  VILLA'S  VISION  OF  THE  FUTURE 

DRIVE    OUT    THE    SPANISH 

"I  have  ended  all  that  and  I  have  driven  from  the 
country  the  people  who  have  been  the  greatest  oppress- 
ors of  the  poor,  the  Castillians  (Spanish),  and  I  intend 
that  these  hard  taskmasters  shall  leave  the  republic  as 
long  as  I  am  in  control. 

"What  we  need  most  in  Mexico  are  men  who  are 
honest  yet  patient  with  our  primitive  people  and  who 
are  willing  to  help  them  while  helping  themselves.  In 
the  past  they  have  made  their  fortunes  by  pushing  our 
people  down  to  slavery. 

' '  This  is  to  be  changed  and  they  must  do  their  share 
if  they  expect  concessions  from  our  country.  No  great 
holdings  of  land  will  be  allowed  under  the  new  regime. 
This  we  are  pledged  to  by  the  plans  of  San  Luis  Potosi 
and  revised  at  Aucabaya. 

NO    MORE    KINGS    IN    MEXICO 

"All  will  have  enough  but  none  so  much  that  they 
may  oppress  the  people  in  the  most  miserable  slavery 
in  order  to  amass  great  fortunes  and  live  like  kings. 
Those  days  are  over. 

i  i  There  never  will  be  another  Pornrio  Diaz  in  Mexico, 
He  was  a  great  man,  but  he  was  for  the  rich  and  not 
the  poor. 

"There  will  never  be  another  regular  army  like  the 
machine  that  Porfirio  built  up  to  maintain  himself.  That 
army  is  now  tottering  to  its  ruin.  It  is  inefficient,  its 
commanders  are  grafters  and  gamblers,  and  its  com- 
mander in  chief  a  drunkard.  It  is  right  that  it  should 
go^  for  free  Mexico  has  no  place  for  such  a  despotism 


VILLA'S  VISION  OF  THE  FUTURE  313 

as  that  army  made  possible.  We  will  have  the  freedom 
that  comes  from  the  respect  of  every  man's  rights  and 
not  by  force  of  arms. 

"I  am  only  an  ignorant  man.  I  have  no  ambition 
for  myself  but  all  for  my  country.  What  I  have  been 
denied  I  wish  that  the  sons  of  my  soldiers  may  have  and 
that  little  Panchito  (his  dead  son)  might  have  had,  had 
he  lived  through  the  first  day's  battle  at  San  Andreas 
and  could  see  Mexico  free.  Schools,  will  be  started  in 
the  cuartels,  and  colleges  in  Chapultepec  and  Tlapham 
military  academies. 

"We  will  have  no  more  need  for  wars  and  our  pow- 
der factories  will  be  converted  into  printing  plants  so 
that  literature  may  be  printed  and  all  may  read  of  the 
world  and  its  wonderful  doings. 

"Should  I  have  an  opportunity  I  could  not  become 
president,  for  the  world  would  smile  and  say:  'What 
does  Pancho  know  of  politics?  He  is  but  a  peon.  But 
I  do  intend  that  the  son  of  a  peon  may  become  educated 
and  learned  so  that  he  may  become  president  just  as 
your  presidents  have  been  the  sons  of  poor  men. 

"This  is  the  passing  of  the  dark  ages,  for  Mexico 
freedom  is  to  be  a  fact. 

THIS   WAR   MUST   GO   TO   BITTEE,   BLOODY   END 

"I  am  tired  of  fighting.  I  know  what  it  means  to 
share  my  blanket  with  a  comrade  at  night  and  use  that 
same  blanket  to  wrap  him  in  before  he  is  laid  away  in 
the  cold  ground  the  next  day  after  a  battle.  I  never 
want  to  hear  the  sound  of  bursting  shrapnel  nor  the 
moan  of  Mauser  bullets.  But  there  remains  work  for 
me  to  do.    I  have  been  selected  by  some  guiding  hand  to 


314  VILLA'S  VISION  OF  THE  FUTURE 

aid  my  country  and  I  will  press  on  until  this  mission  is 
completed. 

"  There  must  not  be  more  war  after  this  one,  and 
for  this  reason  this  one  must  be  to  the  bitter,  bloody 
end. 

"Our  enemies  say  that  my  people  are  too  ignorant 
to  govern  themselves;  that  they  know  nothing,  cannot 
read  nor  write.  Mi  Dios !  how  do  you  expect  us  to  learn 
unless  we  have  schools,  and  how  can  we  govern  ourselves 
unless  we  have  a  chance? 

"Is  it  not  true  that  a  babe  must  crawl  before  he  can 
walk?  Do  governments  grow  like  toadstools  after  a 
rain  storm? 

"But  we  are  making  a  start  and  we  wish  assistance. 
Tell  your  American  people  that  from  me.  Tell  them 
that  all  we  wish  is  a  chance  to  show  what  we  can  do. 
Give  us  that  chance  and  we  will  show  our  friends  of  the 
North  what  the  appreciation  of  a  contented,  happy  peo- 
ple means.  Go  back  and  tell  them  that  Mexico  is  under- 
going the  birth  pangs  of  a  liberdad  nuevas  (new  liberty), 
and  they,  the  Americanos,  are  to  be  the  godfather  of 
this  new  liberty. 

"Adios,  amigo  mio,  go  and  tell  your  people  that 
Pancho  Villa  is  fighting  that  Mexico  may  have  what  Los 
Estados  TJnidos  (the  United  States)  has  so  long  enjoyed 
— Liberdad,  Justicia  y  Paz  (liberty,  justice  and  peace).' ' 


CHAPTER  XXXI 

HOME  FROM  MEXICO 

REFUGEES  TELL  OF  PERILS  AND  HARDSHIPS — JOHN  I.  NEWELL, 
A   REFUGEE   FROM    TAMPICO,   ARRIVES   IN    CHICAGO. 

FIRST  among  the  refugees  from  Tampico  to  reach 
their  homes  in  the  United  States,  John  I.  Newell, 
formerly  of  La  Grange,  and  Frank  S.  Engle, 
well  known  Chicago  an,  arrived  in  Chicago  direct  from 
Galveston,  bringing  graphic  accounts  of  the  sufferings 
and  hardships  of  many  Americans  in  Mexico  and  news 
of  the  perilous  plight  of  more  than  a  hundred  others, 
homeless  along  the  Tumest  River,  sixty  miles  from  Tam- 
pico. 

These  American  refugees  said  Newell  and  Engle,  are 
in  peril  of  their  lives,  for  the  Mexicans  declare  that  "any 
white  man  is  a  'gringo'  now." 

After  the  American  warships  withdrew  from  the  har- 
bor of  Tampico,  the  only  hope  of  American  refugees  was 
in  the  English  and  Germans.  The  British  and  German 
warships  sent  launches  up  the  river  to  bring  out  the 
refugees,  whom  they  turned  over  to  the  American  war- 
ships anchored  off  the  seaport. 

Mr.  Newell  is  secretary  of  the  Mexican  Oil  Company, 
with  extensive  properties  in  the  Topila  district,  thirty- 
five  miles  from  Tampico.  Mr.  Engle  is  manager  of  the 
Friaco   Company,  which  operates  plantations  twenty- 

315 


316  HOME  FROM  MEXICO 

three  miles  north  of  Tampico.  Newell  has  been  in  Mex- 
ico for  the  last  three  years,  and  Engle  for  the  last  five 
years. 

"For  an  American  citizen  in  or  near  Tampico  to 
claim  the  protection  of  the  American  flag  constituted  a 
menace  to  life  and  property,"  said  Mr.  Newell.  " Hun- 
dreds of  American  citizens,  in  order  to  protect  themselves 
from  the  assaults  and  indignities,  claimed  Germany  or 
England  as  their  country. 

"We  made  our  escape  from  Tampico  under  the  Ger- 
man and  English  flags.  And  this  occurred  while  three 
American  warships  and  thirteen  American  torpedo  boat 
destroyers  were  anchored  within  a  few  miles  of  where 
American  men,  women  and  children  were  subjected  to 
every  indignity,  almost,  that  could  be  offered  by  Mexican 
mobs. 

"After  the  arrest  of  the  American  marines  by  a  Mex- 
ican peon  corporal,  which  the  country  knows  about,  the 
conditions  became  intolerable.  Every  insult  that  could 
be  offered  to  American  citizenship  and  to  the  American 
flag  occurred.  Women  were  insulted  in  language  which 
only  the  Spanish  tongue  permits. 

"Often,  without  excuse,  Americans  were  thrown  into 
prison. 

' '  Trouble  was  constantly  expected  and  so  intense  had 
the  situation  become  that  only  the  cool-headed  conduct  of 
Americans  in  Tampico  saved  it  from  massacre.  Smother- 
ing pride,  and  often  manhood  itself,  in  order  to  obey  the 
instructions  of  the  American  authorities,  insults  to  per- 
son and  to  citizens  were  sustained. 

"On  the  morning  of  April  21,  to  the  intense  surprise 
of  not  only  the  Americans  in  Tampico,  but  to  the  officers 


HOME  PROM  MEXICO  317 

of  the  fleet  and  Government  agencies  as  well,  orders  came 
from  "Washington  for  the  removal  of  the  war  vessels. 

1  i  Consul  Miller  wired  his  protest  to  Washington  with- 
out avail,  as  also  did  Admiral  Mayo. 

"At  4  o'clock  of  the  same  afternoon  the  Mexicans 
placarded  Tampico,  calling  the  Mexicans  to  take  up  arms 
to  repel  the  American  invasion.  Upon  the  mere  pretense 
of  an  oath  of  military  service,  the  peons  were  supplied 
with  guns  and  ammunition.  A  mass  meeting  was  held 
on  the  plaza,  and  Mexican  business  and  professional  men 
addressed  it,  inflaming  the  mob  in  every  possible  way. 

"The  speech-making  and  hostile  demonstrations  con- 
tinued during  the  afternoon  and  evening,  and  with  night 
the  mob  gathered  in  greater  force.  American  business 
houses  were  stoned,  windows  broken,  and  wherever  the 
flag  was  displayed  it  was  torn  down." 

Taking  up  the  recital  where  Newell  left  it,  Engle  said : 

"A  mob  of  highly  inflamed  Mexicans  gathered  around 
the  Southern  Hotel.  There  were  only  a  few  guns  left, 
and  we  were  made  to  promise  not  to  use  them  unless  the 
hotel  was  broken  into. 

"Picture,  if  you  can,  the  condition  of  these  refugees, 
assembled  without  a  minute  of  either  warning  or  prepa- 
ration, deserted  by  our  ships.  Then,  as  a  climax,  came 
our  rescue. 

* '  Our  word  came  from  the  commander  of  the  German 
gunboat  Dresden.  In  terms  not  to  be  mistaken  the  com- 
mander of  the  Dresden  sent  word  to  General  Zaragosa 
that  unless  the  mob  was  dispersed  German  marines  would 
be  landed  to  protect  American  and  foreign  citizens.  This 
order  came  while  the  cries  of  ' Death  to  the  Americans' 
rang  in  our  ears. 


318 


HOME  FROM  MEXICO 


"During  the  entire  night  Tampico  was  in  the  control 
of  the  mob.  The  homes  and  business  places  of  Ameri- 
cans were  stoned  and  broken  into.  United  States  Consul 
Miller  sought  to  connect  with  the  "Washington  authorities, 
but  did  not  succeed." 


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